eDiscussion Agenda: Youth Technopreneurship

e-Discussion Surrounding the

Youth Social ‘Technopreneurship’ Conference 

on October 27, 2005

as part of United Nations Week 2005

October 10 – November 25, 2005

_[1]Social Technopreneur: tech·no·pre·neur/ Function: noun–

“driven, creative individual who questions the status quo, exploits new opportunities that technology provides in promoting development and attempts to remake the world for the better, one bit/byte at a time,”

As Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are being increasingly integrated into traditional development efforts, young social ‘technopreneurs’ are finding innovative ways to contribute – from educating their communities on the uses of the Internet, to creating technological platforms linking local artisans with global consumers.

To celebrate the efforts of youth in addressing development issues through modern ICTs, the Y2Y community is organizing a 1-day conference, showcasing award winning initiatives led by dynamic young social technopreneurs. Discussions will build on the Youth Component outcomes of the World Bank’s Shanghai Learning Conference, and center on how the World Bank and other international organizations can, by recognizing young people as a valuable partners, scale up such youth ICT initiatives and support youth-led community driven development.

This e-Discussion is organized in preparation for this day long event to provide an opportunity for youth and development practitioners to share their views on the issues to be discussed. The e-Discussion will also continue for 4 weeks following the conference to facilitate the dissemination of the recommendations that will emerge from the Conference and to seek feedback from participants. For more information on the agenda of the conference and the e-Discussion, please visit Youth Social Technopreneurship - taking it global. For more information on the Youth2Youth Community at the World Bank, please visit http://www.worldbank.org/y2ycommunity.

The discussion will be moderated by young people engaged in development, and will focus on the questions listed below for each week, aiming to come to a set of concrete outcomes and recommendations, which will then form part the back drop Oct. 27 Conference in Washington DC and will be shared with the participants of the event.

Click Here to Sign Up For the eDiscussion!

or visit http://www.worldbank.org/y2ycommunity

participation is free of charge!

e-Discussion Agenda

Week 1 (October 10-16)

Examples from You^th : Innovation, ICTs and Development

This week will focus on collecting examples of community driven development initiatives that involve youth, and how innovative use of IT has contributed to their impact.  The discussion will also aim at identifying key constraints to scaling up such initiatives.  More specifically, the discussion will focus on:

• What are some examples of youth led development initiatives, particularly focusing on Employment, Health, Rehabilitation & Peace Building, Environment & Rural Development?
• How have youth contributed to community driven development initiatives?
• How has the use of ICTs contributed to the scale and success of community driven development initiatives?
• What are some innovative ways in which ICTs have been used and can be used?

Week 2 (October 17-21)

Scaling up Innovative Youth Technopreneurship Initiatives

This week will focus on identifying key constraints to increase the impact and effectiveness of youth led efforts combining community driven development and ICTs, and seek propositions for solutions to scale up youth contributions to achieve local and global development objectives, particularly by leveraging ICTs.

• What are the key constraints to the success and scaling up of these initiatives?
• How can ICTs be more effectively leveraged?
• What are potential solutions to addressing these constraints?
• What is the role of partnerships in addressing these constraints, and what are some examples of partnership modalities that have delivered results?
• What are the expectations from various sectors - such as governments, businesses, NGOs, and international organizations, in order to scale up youth contributions to development, particularly taking advantage of ICTs?

The e-Discussion will also provide a platform for participants to share their projects and ideas by posting documents.

The e-Discussion will also continue until November 25^th following the conclusion of the Oct. 27 Conference in Washington DC to disseminate the conclusions from the debates, and to seek feedback from youth practitioners around the world.

For questions please contact youthcommunity@worldbank.org

This e-discussion is hosted by DevForum: http://www.worldbank.org/devforum/

A service provided by the Multimedia Center of the Global Development Learning Network (GDLN)        

[1] David Bornstein