Indigenous Workshop on Information and Communication Technologies

The Telecommunications Development Bureau of the International Telecommunication Union and the Mexican Administration, through its National Commission for the Development of Indigenous People and the Communications and Transport Secretariat are organizing the I Indigenous Workshop on Information and Communication Technologies in Mexico DF, Mexico, 28 to 30 November 2005. The general objective is to foment this regional initiative to facilitate and promote the telecommunications development in the indigenous communities of the Americas Region.

The specific objectives are:

• To learn from the indigenous people themselves their needs and aspirations related to telecommunications in order to define a general regional vision of the indigenous people in the Americas.

• To facilitate the exchange of experiences and the ways of appropriating the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), as well as the creation of telecentres in the communities.

• To establish agreements and strategies to strengthen the existing actions.

• To jointly create with the participating indigenous organizations a Internet site to work as facilitator towards the development and the exchange of indigenous experiences related to telecommunications. The site will provide information related to the development, use and sustainability of the indigenous community telecentres, for the identification of possible sources of financing, technologies, to learn other members' experience and the ways to develop contents and tele-applications.

The ITU/BDT and the Mexican Government are counting on the participation of representatives of all Administrations in this Workshop and hoping that its outputs may contribute to the achievement of important benefits for the indigenous communities of the Americas Region.