Maghreb youths should play a key role in developing new technologies in the region, according to participants in a Hammamet forum that wrapped up on Friday (November 12th).
The three-day event, dubbed "ICT4 ALL Forum Tunis+5", brought together more than 700 managers from ICT companies and representatives of international organisations. The conference spotlighted ways to create job opportunities for the younger generation through modern communication and information technologies.
"This year the focus was on young people and what was achieved for their benefit in the field of ICT, as well as their role in it and the contribution of young people in building information society. The recommendations stressed that young people now have an important role that must be taken into account," forum Rapporteur-General Rida Gualouze told Magharebia.
The meeting marked the fifth anniversary of the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), held in Tunisia in November 2005, and aimed to assess the commitment of participating states to the Tunisian Agenda, adopted at the summit.
The 11-point document laid an action plan to promote the use of ICTs in development, facilitate access to information and knowledge and boost employment in the sector. The final evaluation is expected to conclude in 2015.
In December 2009, the UN General Assembly ratified the initiative of Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to proclaim 2010 an International Year of Youth.
"This is the international year of youth and it is an initiative to open more room for young people to excellence," Lebanese Information Technology Association chief Khalil Khairallah said.
In the final statement, participants called for international organisations to support programmes aimed at encouraging young promoters in the field of ICT and the need to intensify efforts to fulfil the decisions of the World Summit on the Information Society, particularly relating to the promotion of digital literacy, advanced electronic services in various fields and digital culture.
"We recognise that information and communication technologies open to young people promising prospects for employment in sectors of high value," the statement said.
"Youth are an age group characterised by creativity and innovation and is the most important group in the community in terms of what is expected of them at the economic and social level," Moroccan university professor Amine Azam told Magharebia at the closing.
According to the Arab League, young people constitute two thirds of the overall population in the Arab world.
"The Forum Tunis +5 is a building block further on the path of the embodiment of the recommendations of the World Summit on the Information Society to reduce the digital gap and the development of joint co-operation in the sector of information and communication technologies," Tunisian ICT Minister Mohamed Naceur Ammar said at the closing of the event.
The attendees called for supporting initiatives aimed at developing the use of online services to provide efficient electronic management that responds to the needs of people and contribute to the development of a local industry for data and digital knowledge.
Furthermore, they stressed the need to integrate youth-oriented policies in national development strategies and promote initiatives that would enable young people to access knowledge, computer applications and new services in the fields of health, education, transport and finance.
"There is a new generation of information, which relies on modern technologies and gives us the opportunity to develop the community and empower young people to new prospects," said Cheikh Chafik from Algeria.
© Magharebia.com 2010
