Grant hopes to bridge digital divide

Grant hopes to bridge digital divide

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Tantri Yuliandini
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
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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.

i-box:

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