Presentations

The consultation presentations can be grouped as: addresses by key officers in FAO, Commonwealth of Learning and ICRISAT and special guests; invited resource papers; and case studies from various countries on ICTs for development with a focus on improving opportunities for women and on distance education programmes directed at rural women and rural girls in the region. The presentations are listed below. The complete documentation of the presentations was provided separately on a CDROM to the participants and on request.

Special Addresses

a) Opening Session

Special Address: Digital Dividend vs. Digital Divide
Mr S. Sivakumar, Chief Executive of Agri-Businesses, ITC Limited, India

Opening Remarks
Mr Daniel Gustafson, FAO Representative for India and Bhutan

Presidential Address: Rural Women in Contemporary Knowledge Society
Mr William D. Dar, Director-General, ICRISAT

b) Closing Session

Opening Remarks
Mr Dyno Keatinge, Deputy Director-General - Research, ICRISAT

Presidential Address
Ms Sathi Nair, Chief Secretary to the Government of Andhra Pradesh

Valedictory Address
Mr Gajaraj Dhanarajan, President and CEO, COL

Consultation partners’ presentations on institutional programmes

FAO Framework for Harnessing ICTs for Advancement of Rural Women
Ms Revathi Balakrishnan
Senior Gender and Development Officer
FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific

ICRISAT Plans for Virtual University
Mr Rex Navarro
Head of the Information Resource Management Office, ICRISAT

Programme Focus of the Commonwealth of Learning
Ms Usha Reddi
Director, Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia Communication
Division, Commonwealth of Learning, New Delhi

Resource papers

Gender and ICTs in the Context of Agriculture and Rural Development
Ms Eva Rathgeber, Joint Chair Women’s Studies, Carleton University/ University of Ottawa, Canada

Regional Review 1: ICT for Development in India: Under the Veil
Mr Frederic Noronha, Facilitator, Bytes for All, India

Regional Review 2: ICTs for Rural Development -An Asian Perspective
Mr Roger Harris, ICT4D Consultant, China and Hong Kong SAR

Highlights from UNDAW Expert Group Meeting on Information and communication technologies and their impact on and use as an instrument for the advancement and empowerment of women and FAO Consultation Link to the UNDAW Efforts.
Ms Revathi Balakrishnan, Senior Gender and Development Officer, FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific

International Conference on Information Technology, Communications and Development (ITCD 2002): Highlights.
Ms Hana Kobayashi, Associate Professional Officer, Gender, Participatory Approach and Policies, Sustainable Development Group, FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific

Highlights from the Digital Review of Asia Pacific: An ORBICOMM-IDRC-APDIP Initiative
Mr V. Balaji, Information Resource Management Office, ICRISAT

Country case studies on ICTs for rural development: recent experiences and innovations as applicable to rural women

Panel presentation and discussion: ICTs for development with a focus on rural population: private sector partnership innovations

ICTs in rural capacity building for knowledge sharing and social entrepreneurship with gender balanced impacts - host country experiences

Business Models for sustainable development
Ms Meera Shenoy, Velugu Project, Andhra Pradesh, India (convenor)

Notes from the Field
Ms Richa Kumar, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

Computer on Wheels
Ms Rajeswari Pingali, Formerly Digital Vision Fellow at Stanford University

M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation’s Experience
Mr S. Senthil Kumaran, M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, India

Private Extension: Is it Possible?
Mr T. Harishchandra Prasad, Managing Director, Samaikhya Agri-Tech, India

Distance learning for rural women and girls: basic education and skill development