World Bank

in collaboration with AfDB and other partners

in support of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)

present a Videoconference/Global Dialogue on      

From Strategy to Implementation:

Lessons Learned in World Bank- Funded ICT for Development Projects

Tuesday, November 15, 2005, 8:30 am – 10:30 am (EST)

I Building, Room I1-200, 1850 I Street NW Washington DC USA

Participating Countries (via videoconference):

Sri Lanka, Tunisia, Ghana,  Kazakhstan, Moldova, Rwanda, USA

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:

In accordance with one of the key recommendations of the Plan of Action adopted during the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), which took place in Geneva on 10-12 December 2003, many developing countries have developed national ICT/e-government strategies and action plans. Some countries have already started implementation and there are some early results, good practices and lessons learned. There is a need to facilitate sharing of this emerging knowledge between pioneer countries and those who are just starting implementation to avoid unnecessary mistakes and achieve better results by leveraging the lessons learned and good practices from the early implementers.

As the global ICT for development community is convening in Tunisia on November 16-18, 2005 for the second phase of the World Summit, the World Bank is organizing this Global Dialogue via a videoconference a day before the Summit officially starts.  It will provide an opportunity to discuss what has been done during the last two years in terms of implementing national ICT/e-government strategies in several countries with the support of the World Bank. What are the realities of e-development projects, what are the specific issues, challenges and lessons learned in moving from strategy to implementation?

Since the first phase of WSIS, the World Bank has seen increased interest around the world in further opening telecommunication markets, building out basic backbone infrastructure, mobilizing ICT investments for challenging rural areas and address the potential of new Internet-based and other ICT-related services. In turn, the World Bank is supporting some countries in the design and implementation of e-development policies, projects, and measurement frameworks. Indeed, an increasing number of countries are receiving support for ICT components in traditional investment projects and to design e-government applications and integrated, large-scale e-development projects. This videoconference attempts to distill some of the lessons learned from various e-development projects based on the experiences of team members involved in project planning and execution.

Four of these projects at different stages of development cycle will be discussed during this videoconference:

·        e-Sri Lanka (a year into implementation)

·        the ICT Sector Development Project in Tunisia (a year and half into implementation)

·        e-Ghana (in the midst of preparation), and

·        e-Rwanda (just starting preparation). 

Among the issues to be discussed are the following:

·        key challenges and difficulties faced,

·        what have been the demonstrable achievements and good practices,

·        sequencing and prioritization in delivery/implementation,

·        monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the strategy,

·        critical success factors and other lessons for the countries who are just starting on this path.

Join us for this exciting opportunity to learn from the e-development pioneers from several countries and to connect to Tunisia where the World Summit on the Information Society is taking place during that week!

Live Webcast will start at 8.30 am at:  http://www.worldbank.org/edevelopment/live 

(both Realmedia and Windows media versions will be available)

To learn more about WSIS click here

For further information on the seminar, please write to edevelopment@worldbank.org, or contact Oleg Petrov at 202-473-8861 or Sally Song at 202-4739078. To attend in Tunis, please contact Robert Valantin at the World Bank stand.

Related Materials

• Detailed Program
• Presentations: Sri Lanka (Govt, Bank, Summary of Oct. 4 VC), Tunisia
• Project Documents: Sri Lanka, Tunisia, Ghana, Rwanda
• Other related project documents: Vietnam, India, Ukraine, Romania, Slovakia, Ethiopia
• Event Summary    
• Multimedia     
  • Watch B-Span presentation (indexed video-clip)
  • See the plain video clip (RealMedia or Windows Media version)
  • Photos