Topic : "Information and Communication Technologies for Poverty Reduction and Rural Development in Asia."
Venue : Board Room, AIT
Speaker: Dr. Roger Harris
Time and date : 10.30 am, 11 September 2009.
About Dr Roger Harris :
Dr. Roger W. Harris has a PhD in Information Systems from the City University of Hong Kong. He is a systems analyst by training but has been advancing the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for development since 1997. He is now a specialist in rural access to ICTs, having conceived, instigated and lead for its first three years the pioneering and multi-award winning e-Bario Telecentre Project in Sarawak, Malaysia, in which he continues to be intimately involved.
Dr. Harris is the founder of Roger Harris Associates, a consulting and social entrepreneurial firm that provides services to Asian governments and aid agencies, including the United Nations, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. Its mission is to alleviate poverty by facilitating access to ICTs for underserved sections of society in Asia, and ensuring they are able to make good use of the technology according to their own development priorities and aspirations. His has worked on projects in: China, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam. Current assignments include Encounter Lao: Pilot Project for Rural ICTs for Poverty Reduction through e-Community-Based Tourism in Lao PDR, under the Global Knowledge Partnership; Bario Radio, Community Radio implementation in Sarawak, Malaysia, under IFAD; Indigenous Voices: Communication for Empowerment of Asia?s Indigenous Peoples, under UNDP; and Strengthening ICTD Research Capacity in Asia, under IDRC and Nanyang Technological University Singapore; and ICTs for Trans-Mongolia Sustainable Tourism under EU funding.
Books and publications include
• Empowering the Poor: Information and Communications Technology for Governance and Poverty Reduction - A Study of Rural Development Projects in India, UNDP-Elsevier;
• Information and Communication Technologies for Poverty Alleviation, UNDP.
Contact
harris38@netvigator.com
http://rogharris.org/
