The International Training Centre for Local Authorities (CIFAL) Bilbao, Bilbao City Council and the Basque Government, in collaboration with UNITAR, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, is holding the first course, from today until Friday, to show trainers of local authorities how a Local Digital Agenda course is designed, i.e. how the strategy to build the information society is designed and implemented at the local level.
This responds to a commitment taken at the Bilbao Summit, held in November 2005, at which the local authorities undertook to work for full access to the information society by means of the implementation of Local Digital Agendas (LDA) in their cities and regions.
A SOLIDARY PROJECT
Through CIFAL in Bilbao, the Basque Government and the UN have become involved in training local leaders throughout the entire world in order to try to develop information technologies and fight against the digital divide that separates developed countries from more disadvantaged ones. UCLG, the largest local government organisation in the world, is actively promoting this project.
From today through to Friday a training course is to be given to persons who will provide their services in local administrations, municipal associations, organisations oriented towards local development and similar, from where they will teach and give support to cities and regions in their surrounding areas so that they can design a strategy for the development of the information society at their local level.
The course is being attended by 26 trainees from Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Dominican Republic, Africa (Kenya, Morocco, Rwanda, South Africa and Tunisia), Asia (India and Malaysia) and Europe (Albania, Estonia, Macedonia and Poland).
Training is guaranteed by 2 expert trainers from Euskadi and the United Nations, 3 international speakers from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Microsoft and Gov2U, 6 observers and the presentation of 4 successful cases concerning eDemocracy, eInclusion, eGovernment and eBusiness.
Ibon Areso, Deputy Mayor of Bilbao, and Marcos Muro, General Manager of Promobisa, will present the transformation of Bilbao and its Local Digital Agenda.
For further information about the course, the following links may be visited:
Local Digital Agenda http://www.agendadigitallocal.org
CIFAL Bilbao http://www.cifalbilbao.org/
United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) http://www.unitar.org/
Basque Government http://www.euskadi.net
Bilbao City Council http://www.bilbao.net/
IT4ALL Network http://www.it4all-regions.org