Mr. Shigeo Katsu, World Bank Vicepresident for Europe and Central Asia was "virtually" present at the National Conference “Virtual Collaboration. Collaboration That Matters” through a video-recorded speech

Parliament House

December 18^th, 2007

Good morning.

Access to information and knowledge through Information and Communications Technologies, commonly referred to as ICT, means opportunities for all. With the world becoming smaller as the result of globalization, knowledge is the key engine for competitiveness, employment and growth.

Unfortunately, Romania lags behind other EU countries in terms of access and use of the Internet, particularly in rural and disadvantaged communities.  To help address this, the World Bank's project is helping Romania to catch up faster and reduce and hopefully eventually eliminate the "digital divide" and promote access to knowledge, as well as better connectivity for businesses. 

A few years ago, when the Government of Romania approached us, we were looking at alternatives that would make the biggest difference in speeding up the participation of those communities in Romania’s economy that were being left behind by the knowledge revolution.  Our advice was to build the ICT infrastructure where it is most needed. Through this platform, we recommended to offer the services that seem to work best and have the biggest impact on developing a knowledge-based economy.

It is encouraging to see that the Government of Romania espouses this approach as evidenced by the on-going Knowledge Economy Project, financed by the World Bank.  Efforts are being finalized for 255 communities in Romania to have broadband access, opening up a whole new world of information. The most important network nodes in the communities are linked to worldwide resources and e-services: schools, local libraries, public administration, and public points of access.

This is only the beginning of a far-reaching period of economic and social change in these communities. It represents one of the most critical opportunities for social, cultural and economic empowerment for the 1.8 million people that live in those communities.  I congratulate you for sticking to the tight schedule for making this happen.

Overall, we are happy to note that good progress is being made on a myriad of fronts. 

• 2008 will be the third year of implementation of this project, will bring greater digital literacy among teachers, public administration staff, and entrepreneurs in all 255 communities; a new ICT in Education policy, and new methods for teaching and learning in schools. 
• 2008 will bring online registration for entrepreneurs and family associations.
• 2008 will bring a new approach to e-government services for civil status information.
• 2008 will bring financing to SMEs for implementing e-solutions in their businesses. 

All these improvements represent tremendous opportunities for the communities, and it is important that they take advantage.  Thanks to the Ministry of Telecommunication and Information Technology’s relentless efforts at facilitation and coordination among key stakeholders, what was once a dream of wide-scale access to information and ICT has now become a reality.  Many challenges remain, but the tools are there for the taking. 

But today’s discussions are about what’s next.  During today’s event, I hope we can ask each other the real hard questions that will determine the success of this effort.  For example, how will the different groups of stakeholders from the targeted communities further benefit from this project?  How will children and teachers utilize the opportunity of the Information and Communication Technology platforms existing in their schools?  How will the business community, especially small and medium size enterprises, seize this opportunity to increase their productivity and competitiveness?  How will citizens benefit from their interactions with the public administration? How will they use public library resources for lifelong learning to be competitive in the global marketplace?

As the holidays approach, your achievements and discussions are the best gift you can provide for your communities.  So I hope you have open and fruitful discussions.  And let me wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year – and Happy Learning!

Thank you.