In February 2003, the Overseas Development Institute, in partnership with the Australian Foundation for Development Co-operation, participated in PrepCom-2 of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva.

Roundtable (19th February) - Dr. Warner, representing ODI, made a presentation to some 400 people as a panelist at Roundtable No. 8 on “Innovation in ICT4D partnerships for Project Implementation: Lessons from the Business Partners for Development (BPD) Programme”. His talk presented the key concepts and success factors for building robust multi-sector partnerships to execute ICT4D projects (Information and Communications Technology for Development). The presentation stressed that it is possible to systematize the partnering process in a manner which combines the ‘core complementary competencies’ of actors from each of the three sectors, and delivers added value to each party. He also advocated that the work of the G8 DOT Force provides a framework against which the search for resource complementarity can be undertaken.

Workshop (20th February) - Dr. Warner of ODI and Dr. Greener of FDC hosted a Workshop on the subject of “Harnessing the Development Potential of the WSIS through Results-Based, multi-sector Partnerships.” Around 100 people attended the session. The workshop comprised (i) a presentation on the principles of partnership brokering as they relate to the design of ICT for development projects; (ii) a plenary discussion around the application of these principles to two existing case-studies of ICT4D in Jordan and El Salvador; and (iii) a hands-on exercise using a hypothetical case study, which explored the mapping of core competencies (between NGOs, private operators, and the government regulator) to solve a challenge of rural ICT access.