Conference on Higher Education, Information Technology and Sustainable Development: The central role of universities in building knowledge societies in Asia, Africa and Latin America, January 10-14, 2005, De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines
I was invited to this event, I think, primarily because of the perception of LIRNE.NET as a university-based, effective organization for applying knowledge to problems of ICT4D. The presentation that I made was entitled LIRNE.NET: ICT4D with or without universities” (Manila Presentation), which should give a clue about what I think of the role of Asian universities in this task.
The conference was attended by enthusiastic academics (majority), NGO representatives seeking more support from universities, and education administrators. What should perhaps have been framed as questionsDo the universities have a role in the emerging knowledge societies? If they do have a role, what is it? What can be done to improve things if there is no role or the existing roles are unsatisfactory were seen as already answered as indicated by the conference title: the central role of universities in building knowledge societies. But I am sure everyone learned something; I did.
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