Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme was an initiative of UNDP (

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

) and "aims to promote the development and application of

information and communication technologies Information and communications technology (ICT) is an extensional term for information technology (IT) that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals) and compute ...

(or, ICTs) for sustainable human development". Its sphere of work was the Asia-Pacific region. APDIP was based within the UN premises in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. APDIP said it "aims to meet its goals by focusing on three inter-related core areas". The first is policy development and dialogue, the second is access, and the third is content development and knowledge management.

Aims, approach

From its publications, APDIP said it "collaborates with national governments, regional, international and multi-lateral development organizations, UN agencies, educational and research organizations, civil society groups, and the private sector". This was done by integrating Information and Communication Technologies" (ICTs) in the development process.

Strategies

To achieve its objectives it also employed what it termed a dynamic mic of strategies—awareness raising, capacity building, technical assistance and advice, research and development, knowledge sharing and partnership building.

Countries covered

The countries covered by APDIP were those supported by UNDP's Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific (RBAS): Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Cook Islands, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, East Timor, Fiji, Federated States of Micronesia, French Polynesia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kiribati, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, New Caledonia, Niue, Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Republic of Marshall Islands, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tokelau, Tonga, Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Vietnam.

Initial Team

APDIP's initial team (1997 - 2001) launched the Programme and included Gabriel Accascina (Regional Coordinator), Patrick Gremillet (Deputy Coordinator), Ramita Sharma (Project Officer), Ian Azlan Shah (Project Officer), Cynthia Hor (Project Officer), Kit Roche (Admin support), Marc Lepage (JPO) and Deuter Zinnbauer (intern).

Achievements (1997-2001)

Under the initial team, APDIP's projects included: * Countries' connection to the Internet, includin
Bhutan
an

* Support to Internet engineering training, via th

* National projects such as th

in Malaysia, a mobile ICT training classroom.

Second Team

APDIP's second team (2001 - 2008) comprised rogramme co-ordinator Shahid AKHTAR, FOSS consultant Sunil Abraham">Shahid_AKHTAR.html" ;"title="rogramme co-ordinator Shahid AKHTAR">rogramme co-ordinator Shahid AKHTAR, FOSS consultant Sunil Abraham, programme specialist for content development and knowledge management Christine APIKUL, programme specialist for policy development and dialogue Lars BESTLE, practice team assistant Wasinee TRAYAPORN, programme specialist for access and partnership development James George CHACKO, programme specialist for building capacities and partnerships Phet SAYO, programme specialist for ICT4D based in Sri Lanka Chanuka WATTEGAMA, programme specialist for access and partnerships Isa Seow and IT consultant Khairil YUSOF.

Achievements (2001- onwards) THE IOSN

Among the techie community, one of the better-known initiatives of the APDIP is the International Open Source Network (or, IOSN), which is supported by the

International Development Research Centre The International Development Research Centre (IDRC; , ''CRDI'') is a Canadian federal Crown corporation. As part of Canada's foreign affairs and development efforts, IDRC champions and funds research and innovation within and alongside developi ...

(IDRC) of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. IOSN has been termed a "centre of excellence for Free/Open Source Software (FOSS), Open Content and Open Standards" in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2006, IOSN undertook plans for expansion of its activities with three more "centres of excellence". Th
CodeBreakers
is a video production by APDIP in which a Team of independent producers visited nearly 12 Countries worldwide to see how the adoption of FOSS presents opportunities for industry and capacity development, software piracy reduction, and localization and customization for diverse cultural and development needs.

External links

* ttp://www.yasmin-g.com/pdfs/digitaldivide.pdf AsiaWeek. Heroes of the Digital Divide
The Codebreakers: Asia Pacific Development Information Programme: Free Download & Streaming: Internet Archive
{{United Nations Information and communication technologies in Asia United Nations Development Programme