U.N., Markle Foundation Launch Project to Improve Health, Education in Developing Countries Through IT

The United Nations Development Program and the Markle Foundation announced a project yesterday to improve health care, education and business development in developing nations by bolstering their information technology infrastructure. The Global Digital Initiative will send "the latest computer and communications equipment" to participating nations, along with teams of technology consultants to help establish the program. Bolivia, Mozambique and Tanzania were the first nations selected for the program, which will eventually include 12 nations. Forty-five nations have applied. Criteria for participation include political support for the initiative, as well as a willingness to deregulate national telecommunications monopolies. The two-year project has received commitments for $10 million in funding from partner organizations. Technology firms such as Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard, Cisco Systems and AOL Time Warner, along with the Harvard Center for International Development and other international organizations, will also donate personnel and equipment (Krane, Associated Press, 2/5).