Youth Input to Global Knowledge Partnership DOTforce Report

The report argues that ICTs are essential for youth empowerment, governance, and livelihood opportunities, particularly in developing regions. It highlights that while young people use ICTs for advocacy, education, and entrepreneurship, they face significant barriers including high costs, lack of infrastructure, and a need for pedagogical shifts in education. The document details various regional initiatives—such as telecenters in Colombia and India, mobile internet units in Malaysia, and youth networks in Africa—to demonstrate how targeted ICT investments can bridge the digital divide and foster sustainable development.

• Young people utilize ICTs to increase their participation in governance, enabling them to mobilize collectively and conduct advocacy campaigns from local to international levels.
• Effective ICT integration in education requires more than just providing hardware; it necessitates a fundamental shift in educational approaches, extensive teacher training, and the redesign of academic curriculums.
• Youth-led ICT organizations often struggle with financial sustainability, creating a paradox where they need the credibility provided by ICTs to survive but cannot afford the costs of operating in an ICT-rich environment.
• Telecenters in rural and urban areas provide critical livelihood opportunities for youth, often operating as microenterprises or providing essential community services.
• Local e-commerce is identified as a more viable path for youth professional development than international e-commerce, as it allows them to work without relocating far from family and support networks.
• The expansion of global ICT infrastructure has relied heavily on the volunteerism of young professionals who often prioritize socially-conscious ICT use over lucrative private sector employment.
• In Malaysia, the Mobile Internet Unit (MIU) has successfully bridged the digital divide by bringing ICT literacy to 2,500 school communities and over 11,000 individuals as of November 2000.
• Colombia's 'Computadores para Educar' program refurbishes surplus computers from public and private sectors for needy schools, aiming to deliver 13,056 computers to 1,088 schools by the end of 2001.
• In Africa, the African Information Society Youth Network (AISYN) was established to combat the loss of local knowledge resources and improve ICT access in rural areas.
• The 'Gyandoot' project in Madhya Pradesh, India, utilizes low-cost rural intranets and village information kiosks run by local youth entrepreneurs to provide government services and agricultural data.

APA

Willard, T. (2001). Youth Input to Global Knowledge Partnership DOTforce Report. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/networks_youth_dotforce.pdf

Chicago

Willard, Terri. Youth Input to Global Knowledge Partnership DOTforce Report. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2001. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/networks_youth_dotforce.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Willard |first1=Terri |title=Youth Input to Global Knowledge Partnership DOTforce Report |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=20 April 2001 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/networks_youth_dotforce.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{willard2001youth, author = {Willard, Terri}, title = {{Youth Input to Global Knowledge Partnership DOTforce Report}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2001}, month = apr, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/networks_youth_dotforce.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }