28 February 2013: Participants reviewed major changes in information and communication technologies (ICT) at the First World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) +10 Review Meeting. Among other events, the meeting included a debate on “Broadband, technology and education-lessons of the past ten years,” which recognized how capitalizing on technology can address educational challenges and accelerate progress on the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of universal primary education and the Education for All goals.

The First WSIS+10 Review Meeting took place from 25-27 February 2013, in Paris, France. The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) hosted the WSIS+10 review meeting, which was co-organized with the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The First WSIS+10 review meeting is a multi-stakeholder event, focused on “Towards Knowledge Societies for Peace and Sustainable Development.” The outcomes of the meeting and those of a high-level review event in 2014 will inform the UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) reviews of the WSIS and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2015.

Participants at the UNESCO-hosted debate on broadband discussed a new report, titled “Technology, Broadband and Education: Advancing the Education for All Agenda,” which is the outcome of the Broadband Commission’s Working Group on Education. The report highlights how access to and extension of high-speed technologies can support education by: helping poorer countries retain high-performing students; extending access to distance learning programmes for remote communities; and creating new centers of learning throughout the developing world. The report recommends, inter alia: increasing access to ICTs and broadband; incorporating ICTs into continuing education and job training; teaching ICT skills and digital literacy; promoting mobile learning and open educational resources; and developing content adapted to local languages.

UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, who co-chairs the Broadband Commission along with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Secretary-General Hamadoun I. Toure, said while progress has been made to reach the 2015 goals, many countries are still not on track. She said “the digital divide continues to be a development divide,” but recognized that the mobile and internet revolutions provide opportunities to “widen access to quality education for all and to empower all citizens with the knowledge, skills and values they need to live and work successfully in the digital age.” [WSIS+10 Website] [UNESCO Press Release] [ITU Press Release] [Education for All Initiative] [Publication: Technology, Broadband and Education: Advancing the Education for All Agenda]