InWent - GTZ - DED

Cooperation for Sustainable Use of ICT

Bonn/Berlin (Germany), November 2006 - The Declaration of Principles stated by the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS 2003) indicated the necessity to "share information and knowledge". It thereby places emphasis on the particular importance of ICT within the context of Knowledge for Development.




But previous experience has demonstrated that the introduction of ICT-supported education is either likely to fail or that the benefits will be limited if the introduction of the new technologies is not combined with the development of important skills to operate and maintain the new technologies. It is also necessary to develop the appropriate organisational infrastructures in which the newly acquired skills become embedded. In order to monitor the vary impact of eLearning/ Blended Learning activities, a set of criteria has to be developed and implemented.


Currently in bi- or multilateral projects, the organisations involved have mutual interests but different approaches. To use synergy effects, the German development organisations InWEnt- Capacity Building International, Germany, the German Development Service (DED), and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) cooperate on establishing a joint eLearning environment by sharing development, maintenance, and support of standardized ICT solutions in projects in East Africa.


InWEnt and GTZ support a vocational education and training project in Uzbekistan by the implementation of a shared eLearning/Blended Learning approach. Every organisation brings in its specific competences to boost the effectiveness of existing vocational training activities in German development cooperation.


At Online Educa Berlin, InWEnt, DED and GTZ will report on practical examples of relationships between the German development agencies and local institutions, against the background of their cooperation. Approaches to building eLearning services to enhance the capacities of training institutions will be discussed. Light will also be cast on measuring the impact of ICT-supported education.


Workshop: 29 November 2006, 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

Special Focus Session: 01 December 2006, 2:30 - 3:30 p.m.