Guiding Principles/Objectives

Programmes

► Access to relevant information and knowledge,economic empowerment
► Strengthening the voice of disadvantaged groups and areas, socio-political empowerment
► Facilitation of communication and networking, intercultural dialogue.

SDC set up an "ICT for Development" (ICT4D) Division which supports networks and organisations with a focus on:

SDC puts emphasis on the smart combination of the whole range of new and "old" ICT that have a great potential as enabler of communication and exchange of information. For the poor, the radio and TV are much more accessible than the internet. The combination of internet and radio can be very effective in reaching the poor and illiterate.

Areas of Application:

► ICT for Development
► ICT for Poverty Reduction
► ICT for Intercultural Communication
► ICT4D Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships
► Local Knowledge/Local Content/Indigenous Knowledge
► ICT enabled local governance
► ICT4D Youth Programmes

Some main partners of the SDC ICT4D Division include:

The Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP)
The SDC Director-General is Chairman of the GKP Executive Committee. SDC has been heavily involved in building up the GKP Secretariat in Kuala Lumpur, facilitating the GKP 2005 Strategy and positioning and strengthening the advocacy network.  SDC supports a range of GKP related events, activities and projects. http://www.globalknowledge.org/

Building Digital Opportunities (BDO)
BDO is a network of several cross-sectoral initiatives aiming to include the poor in the global information society. www.iconnect-online.org

World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)
SDC strengthens the voice of developing countries through sponsoring of participants and through support to regional and thematic events and consultations. SDC organises and funds the WSIS Parallel Event on ICT4D. SDC also co-finances the UN World Electronic Media Forum, another WSIS Parallel Event. www.itu.int/wsis

International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD)
Through this partnership, SDC supports concrete projects, activities and events, especially in Bolivia and Mali. Joint learning and approach development regarding ICT4D is a key objective of this partnership. www.iicd.org

OneWorld International (OWI)
SDC supports the building and strengthening of a South Asia Platform to promoting the southern voice and content in the media. www.oneworld.net

UN ICT Task Force
www.unicttaskforce.org/index.asp

Swiss Institute for information technologies in education
Partnership in e-learning, education and ICT4D. www.educa.ch/dyn/1916.htm

A more complete and detailed list of SDC supported ICT4D activities is on the web under: www.sdc.admin.ch/ict4d

Participation in Multi-donor Programmes:

► Global Knowledge Partnership
► UN ICT Task Force
► BDO (Building Digital Opportunities)
► UNESCO Community Multimedia Francophonie (ICT)
► Bellanet
► OneWorld International
► infoDev (seco)
► Development Gateway (tbc)