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The Asia-Pacific Telecentre Network (APTN) is a collaborative initiative of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) and telecentre.org. The APTN Secretariat is hosted at ICT Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA). APTN is dedicated to promote innovation and knowledge-sharing amongst telecentres in the Asia-Pacific region where telecentres are growing exponentially each year. APTN is working towards creating a platform of networks of telecentres, to share experiences on issues of their interest (content, sustainability, connectivity, etc.) and to cooperate on the development of solutions for common problems of the telecentres themselves in order to empower poor and disadvantaged communities with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the Asia Pacific Region. In other words, APTN will serve as the focal network or the knowledge hub 〔UNESCAP. (2009, September). United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and The Pacific. (Regional Workshop for Knowledge hubs in Asia Pacific Region ). 8–10 September 2009. Nanjing, China.〕 for communication and information technology in the Asia Pacific region. == History == The World Summit on the Information Society (2003 and 2005) and the World Summit for Sustainable Development (2002) recognized the importance of the ICT in narrowing the digital divide and attaining sustainable development,〔UN. (2000, November). (Report on the United Nations / Malaysia Workshop on Bridging the Digital Divide: Space Technology Solutions. Conference 20 -24 November 2000 ). PLANWEL citation retrieved 2000. Page 09 item 41〕 respectively. In view of the above, many countries established community access points with the intention of providing common access to ICT related services to rural communities. However, it has now been realized 〔("Asia-Pacific Telecentre Network: Uniting for Development"; Telecentre Magazine December 2008 )〕 that community access points established to narrow the digital divide has not been able to capture the fragmented and underutilized knowledge of the poor and the disadvantaged communities. While many reasons could be attributed to this situation some of the significant causes are; inadequate exchange of experience related to ICT, weak linkages with stakeholders and low capacity of disadvantage communities in accessing and utilization of knowledge. The project entitled "Knowledge networks through ICT access points for disadvantage communities",〔ENRAP. (June. 2000). Knowledge Networking for Rural Development in Asia/Pacific Region. (Establishment of Regional PoP's (Point of Presence) for Socio-Economic Changes through Distance Learning ).〕〔Stockholm Challenge. (January, 2000). (TechNology Based Community Centers - Establishment Of Regional PoP's (Point Of Presence) For Socio-EcoNomic Changes Through Distance Learning ).〕 which is being implemented by UNESCAP,〔(Project: Knowledge. Networks through ICT Access Points for Disadvantaged Communities )〕 attempts to empower poor and the disadvantaged communities through transformation of selected ICT access points into knowledge hubs of global knowledge networks by providing, developing, organizing, sharing and disseminating knowledge demanded by these communities. In the process, the project anticipated achieving; establishment of global/ regional knowledge network(s) for community development, enriched value proposition of ICT access points through their transformation into knowledge hubs and increase engagement of poor and the disadvantaged in the transformation process. Since the inception of the project in 2006, number of activities has been accomplished to achieve the primary objective of the project. While the two regional meetings shared experience on telecentre operations and consulted telecentre operators on possible establishment of networks,〔(Report of Consultative Meeting for the Establishment of Regional Knowledge Network of Telecentres in Asia-Pacific (27-28 September 2007) ), UNESCAP. (2007, December). ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC. United Nations Development Account Project on Knowledge Networks through ICT Access Points for Disadvantage Communities.〕 subsequently APTN was established. The Asia-Pacific Telecentre Network (APTN) was launched at the United Nations Conference Center in Bangkok on 19 November 2008, during an event attended by high level officials from 16 countries of the Asia-Pacific region, representatives from several United Nations bodies and other organisations.〔(About APTN )〕〔(The Asia-Pacific Telecentre Network: a result of telecentre.org and UN Economic Commissions working together )〕 It was a collaborative initiative of UNESCAP together with 18 founding members from 10 countries in the region and support of partners such as the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and telecentre.org. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Asia-Pacific Telecentre Network」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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