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Released By:
Downer
Speech by the Hon Alexander Downer, MP, Minister for Foreign Affairs, at the launch of the
Virtual Colombo Plan,
Sydney, 2 August 2001.
Introduction
Thank you Senator Patterson; distinguished guests (including the President of
the World Bank, Mr James Wolfensohn); ladies and gentlemen.
It's a great pleasure to be here today for the launch of the Virtual Colombo
Plan.
Bridging the 'digital divide'
As Australia's Foreign Minister, I often have to talk about globalisation.
And in doing so, I seek to emphasise that globalisation is a process in which
fundamental forces are at work, affecting our societies in ways that we struggle
to comprehend completely. I encourage people to be brave in facing up to the
challenges that globalisation brings, to recognise that we must all go forward,
and not retreat backwards behind the walls of a narrow, xenophobic nationalism
or self-defeating protectionism.
I've had these views for many years - since I was university student. But, it
is clear that, in recent years, the Information and Communications Technology
(ICT) revolution that is sweeping the world has intensified the process of
globalisation and sharpened its effects for many people. Dazzling new
developments - like digital cameras, e-mail, the Internet, and a range of
incredible new computers - have brought great benefits, through falling costs
and rising productivity, across many sectors of the world economy.
It has been increasingly recognised that there is a danger that many benefits
of these new technologies could simply pass by many developing countries. This
phenomenon has been called the 'digital divide', which refers to the gap that
has opened up, as globalisation has developed, between those countries and
people who are information-rich and technology-rich, and those who are
information-poor and technology-poor.
ICT issues are often raised with me personally when I visit developing
countries in the course of my work as Foreign Minister. Nevertheless, Internet
usage is growing dramatically in many developing countries - between 1998 and
2000, the number of Internet users grew from 1.7 million to 9.8 million in
Brazil, from 3.8 million to 16.9 million in China, and from 2,500 to 25,000 in
Uganda.
Overall, while much progress has been made in terms of access and
achievements in education in developing countries, the pressures on education
systems are still enormous, especially at the level of basic education. Over 100
million children still have no access to primary schooling, and many others do
not progress beyond the very basic grades. Efforts in the education sector must
be increased significantly if international development goals of universal
global primary enrolments set for 2015 are to be met.
I've long recognised that, while the benefits of globalisation are very
substantial, there are also costs involved in the process that make it incumbent
upon governments - and business too - to assist individuals and communities to
adjust to the dramatic changes that are involved. In particular, we need to
focus on how the new technology can be used to help tackle world poverty.
The Internet creates new possibilities for developing linkages between people
and between the developed and developing world. But nearly all the new
technology was designed in developed countries, so it is not surprising that
most of it reflects the ideas, skills, and needs of those countries. For the
developing world to bridge the 'digital divide', new technology must be
harnessed and adapted in order to be a useful and an effective tool and help
combat poverty.
The Virtual Colombo Plan
Jim Wolfensohn and I have discussed these issues on a number of occasions.
And we have now agreed that Australia and the World Bank should together launch
a major new international program promoting access to education and information
in developing countries across the world through use of the new technology.
We believe that the new program should be called the Virtual Colombo Plan.
The program builds on the concepts of the original Colombo Plan, which began
just 50 years ago this year. Australia was one of the seven founding members of
the original Colombo Plan, and one of my predecessors as Foreign Minister, Percy
Spender, took a leading role in its establishment.
The original Colombo Plan emphasised education, by bringing people from
developing countries to study in Australia. The Virtual Colombo Plan will work
in the other direction, by taking education to people in developing countries
via the Internet.
Australia's commitment
I am announcing today that Australia intends to spend A$200 million over a
five-year period to support Australia's participation with the World Bank in the
Virtual Colombo Plan. This commitment will be realised through a
carefully-designed package of activities in the Australian aid program.
At this point, I would like to express our appreciation for the strong
financial commitment also being made to the Virtual Colombo Plan by the World
Bank. This is a good example of a donor partnership that will be a catalyst for
further funding from other countries. By establishing these foundations we are
providing a exciting program for others to join.
There will be several stages in the Australian package. In the first
stage, there will be an emphasis on basic education and on
infrastructure. In the second and third stages, there will be an increasing
emphasis on information dissemination and higher education.
Beginning next year, Australia will provide up to 200 new Virtual Colombo
Plan scholarships annually to be used by primary school teachers and teachers of
basic education activities. These scholarships will cover distance education
studies, and will be available to teachers who wish to enrol in courses provided
through the Internet from Australian education institutions. They will, in
effect, be electronic scholarships that enable teachers to study while remaining
in their home countries. They will hopefully be especially useful for primary
school teachers with family responsibilities at home that make it difficult for
them to undertake studies overseas.
In 12 countries across Asia, the Pacific and Africa, we will support distance
education programs for the upgrading of teachers' skills. As a first step, we
will establish 8 multi-purpose teacher education learning centres, each well
equipped with computers and communication equipment, in Primary Teachers
Colleges in Papua New Guinea.
Australia will fund Australian education specialists to develop appropriate
education content for delivery through the African Virtual University. Australia
will assist developing countries to develop policies and strategies which will
enable them to maximise the benefits that information technologies can provide.
This is integral to the success of the Plan.
Australia will also help to extend the World Bank's information technology
network into developing countries in the region. This innovative network makes
significant expertise and information available to key decision-makers and
community organisations across the world.
I am also pleased to announce that Australia will become a founding member of
the World Bank initiated Gateway Foundation which will fund and manage the
Development Gateway - an electronic librarian which swiftly directs people to
the types of information they are looking for on development issues.
As Foreign Minister, I have visited many Australian aid projects in many
countries during the last five years. The most satisfying projects to see have
been those which have had a genuine impact on the lives of poor people,
especially children. I am therefore determined that Australian activities funded
through the Virtual Colombo Plan will be designed to bring real benefits to
children, and to community groups, in developing countries.
Australia's expertise
Australia has the right kind of expertise to make a significant international
contribution through the Virtual Colombo Plan. We have a wide range of
institutions that provide world-class services across the entire education
sector, and we are already experts in the field of distance education. Our
involvement in the Plan will enable that expertise to be employed on a bigger
scale than ever before. By playing an important niche role in this area, we can
make a real difference.
The Government's Innovation Action Plan, 'Backing Australia's Ability',
launched earlier this year recognised that Australians are resourceful and
innovative people. The commitments contained in that Action Plan will strengthen
our ability to undertake research and generate ideas that are internationally
competitive, and accelerate their commercial application.
Our involvement in the Virtual Colombo Plan will provide a useful adjunct to
our Innovation Action Plan. We have in Australia many superb research
institutions like the CSIRO (the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research
Organisation), the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, the
Macfarlane Burnet Centre for Medical Research, and many others.
Our aim is to ensure that, through the Virtual Colombo Plan, the
published research results of such institutions will be made increasingly
accessible to people across the developing world. Published Australian
information will be made available on key health, agriculture and development
issues on specially created websites.
I encourage you to register your interest in further involvement in the
Virtual Colombo Plan initiative that I have outlined today through the AusAID
website.
Conclusion
Australia's support for the Virtual Colombo Plan adds another dimension to
our commitment towards the reduction of world poverty. For the first time, a
coherent set of measures, that will mainstream the use of the new technologies
into the Australian aid program, has been brought together into one overall
program.
I have no doubt that, over time, the new technologies will increasingly
become part of global development assistance efforts. Australia is firmly
committed to the objective of bridging the 'digital divide', and the Virtual
Colombo Plan marks an important milestone in the process of achieving it.
The Plan is clearly an exciting initiative, and one that should make a big
difference over time to the quality of life of many people in developing
countries. I'm delighted to be involved in the inception of the Virtual Colombo
Plan, and will continue my personal interest in its progress in the future.