Officials urged representatives at the ITU Telecom World 2006 Youth Forum to actively participate in bridging the digital divide and assist in solving the issues that plague the ICT industry.
'The digital divide between nations and within nation, between and within urban and rural societies, between age groups and gender groups, remains our biggest challenge,' said ITU Deputy Secretary-General Roberto Blois in his opening address before the 255 forum delegates. 'Bridging all divides will truly extend the benefits of ICT to all.'
While lauding the benefits of the Web as a major disruptive tool in content delivery, EU Commissioner (Europe) for Information Society and Media, Viviane Reding, encouraged the youth to help in preventing content piracy. 'I know most of your believe that content must be free, but there are upcoming artists, designers and actors, some of them your age, who also stand to lose a lot because of piracy. That is why it is important to find a balance between the interests of content creators and consumers.'
The six-day program will engage delegates aged 18 to 23, from both developed and developing countries, in a number of interactive discussions exploring the significant role of ICT in fostering socioeconomic development as well as the implications of ICT in the digital society.
In a fitting affirmation of its youth's contribution to the advancement of ICT, host country China sent 50 delegates to the event. 'In China, 57.2% of Internet users are aged between 18 and 22,' said Jiang Yaoping, China's vice-minister of the Ministry of Information Industry. '[Our] youth is a key driver for the information and communication industry.'
Walda Roseman, CEO of Compass Rose International and Youth Forum chairman, said there is equal representation of men and women in this years' Forum represented by 130 countries, including Belize, Cuba, Gabon, Paraguay and Qatar for the first time.