Grant hopes to bridge digital divide

================= Tantri Yuliandini The Jakarta Post Jakarta -----------------

A globalized world also means a globalized learning ground. People learn lessons of life not only from those around them but through the information spewed out constantly by television, radio and increasingly through the Internet.

For those of us not yet on that bandwagon, Samsung Electronics has offered a US$600,000 grant for organizations in eight Asia- Pacific countries that support the use of technology to improve the lives of youth and to help bridge the digital divide.

The grant will be the Korea-based electronics company's single largest social program outside of Korea, and is targeted at youths in Australia, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore.

"Ensuring that all young people have equal access to information technology is an increasingly important issue for the future development of the Asia-Pacific region," the executive secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Kim Hak-Su, said in his address at the launch of the grant program.

Kim will also be the chairman of the regional judging committee for the program, called Samsung DigitAll Hope 2003.

Youths in the eight countries are being targeted because they have "given the company such great success and the youth here, with so many ambitions, dreams and aspirations, should be given the chance to achieve greatness", president and CEO of Samsung Asia, and a member of the regional judging committee, Kwang-Soo Kim said.

Those eligible to apply for the grant are registered charities, non-governmental organizations, development institutes and educational institutions.

Projects should be innovative, sustainable and have a significant impact on youths and communities.

Applications should address the use of technology to either improve the lives of youth, improve or expand the provision of services such as education, or broaden the horizons of youth, Lee Kang Hyun, Samsung Electronic Indonesia's sales and marketing director, said.

He also said ongoing and newly founded youth projects would be considered for grants.

Submitted project proposals will be evaluated by independent judging committees in each of the eight countries. Ten of the projects will be submitted to the regional judging committee for final evaluation, and eight will be eligible for monetary and product awards.

On the regional judging committee, besides Kim Hak-Su and Kwang-Soo Kim, are Pairash Thajchayapong, president of Thailand's National Science and Technology Development Agency; John Rimmer, CEO of Australia's National Office for Information Economy; and Verghese Kurien, chairman of AMUL, India.

Also sitting on the committee are Estrella Fagela Alabastro, secretary for the Philippine's Department of Science and Technology; Tan Sri Dato' Dr. Lim Kok Wing, president of Malaysian Design Technology Center and the president of Limkokwing University College of Creative Technology; Nguyen Ngoc Giao, chairman of the Alliance of Association of Technique and Science for Hochiminh City, Vietnam; and Leo Wee Hin Tan, director of the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Projects proposals should be submitted before July 11, 2003, to the Samsung Electronics office of each country. In Indonesia the office is located at Plaza Dua Mutiara, 16th Floor, Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav. 25, Jakarta 12920. Grant recipients will be announced in early August 2003.

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For more information on Samsung DigitAll Hope visit www.samsung.com.sg/hope.