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Gov’t Harnessing ICT to Help Create Jobs

Gov’t Harnessing ICT to Help Create Jobs
Gov’t Harnessing ICT to Help Create Jobs

Minister of Information and Communications Technology Mahmoud Vaezi said the development of ICT infrastructures tops the agenda of President Hassan Rouhani's administration and it will be used for creating jobs.

Vaezi made the statement at the World Summit on Information Society Forum 2016 in Geneva, Switzerland, on Tuesday.

"ICT infrastructures are needed to build a knowledge-based economy, promote science and culture, and reduce social gaps," ICT ministry's website quoted Vaezi as saying.

The event is being held at the headquarters of the International Telecommunication Union from May 2 to 6.

The forum represents the world’s largest annual gathering of the "ICT for Development" community. It provides structured opportunities to network, learn and participate in multi-stakeholder discussions and consultations on WSIS implementation.

"Iran has managed to launch nationwide 3G and 4G services, increase Internet penetration rate and provide Internet access to many rural areas in previous years," he said.

The minister referred to the successful implementation of e-learning, e-health and e-government projects as the country's achievements in developing the ICT infrastructures.

Vaezi also met with Fadi Chehade, CEO and president of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, on Tuesday on the sidelines of the forum where they agreed to increase the number of root servers in Iran.

Officials also agreed to expand cooperation by holding professional training courses and joint conferences.

ICANN is a nonprofit organization responsible for the coordination of maintenance and methodology of several databases of unique identifiers related to the namespaces of the Internet, which ensure the network's stable and secure operation.

Vaezi also held meetings with officials from Russia, Armenia, Algeria and Uganda, discussing future ICT ties, mostly with a focus on knowledge transfer, cyber-security and development of infrastructures.

  Open Doors

Nassrollah Jahangard, deputy minister of ICT, said Iran keeps the cooperation doors open for the implementation of its national strategies through an effective technical economic framework.

"Iran is one of the youngest populations in the world. It has highly educated people and it is an emerging economy that knows the importance of the WSIS follow-up process. We do our best to help achieve WSIS goals," he said.

The topic of development has been a persistent focus of Iranian representatives at WSIS events since 2003. As a report from Small Media explains, “Iran has repeatedly emphasized the importance of the Millennium Development Goals and of other internationally-recognized development treaties and agreements.”

These efforts have not gone unnoticed. In 2010, UNESCO awarded Iran a special certificate for its efforts to expand broadband access to rural areas.

The WSIS Forum, co-organized by ITU, UNESCO, UNDP and UNCTAD, in close collaboration with all WSIS Action Line Facilitators, has proven to be an efficient mechanism for coordination of multi-stakeholder implementation activities, information exchange, creation of knowledge, sharing of best practices and continues to provide assistance in developing multi-stakeholder and public or private partnerships to advance development goals.

Financialtribune.com