Navajo President Joe Shirley, Jr., addresses international UN conference on information, communication, technology

NEW YORK, N.Y.- Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley, Jr., has renewed the Navajo Nation's commitment and leadership to help bring information,communication and technology ­ (ICT) ­ to the indigenous people of the world.

Speaking before the 7th Infopoverty World Conference 2007 at the United Nations here Thursday and Friday, he said the Navajo Nation can assist to preserve languages, cultures and ways of life while providing access to education and economic development online.

President Shirley said that in 2005 when the UN learned that the Navajo Nation had created one of the largest wireless networks in the world through satellite technology, it asked if it could share that knowledge with the rest of the world.

He said that led to the Navajo Nation joining the International Telecommunications Union and the Observatory for Cultural and Audiovisual Communication, or OCCAM, and creating plans to open an international office for indigenous nations in Window Rock later this year.

He said all 110 Navajo Nation communities have wireless internet access, and every Navajo who wants an e-mail address can have one.

"There is not another Native American tribe or organization in the world that is coming close to taking the kind of leadership position that the Navajo Nation is," said Ernest Franklin, Executive director of the Navajo Nation Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, who attended with President Shirley.

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Audio: President Shirley

Cluster of WSIS-related events, 14-25 May 2007, Geneva

A series follow-up and implementation meetings of the World Summit on the Information Society outcomes will take place in Geneva . Organized around the 10th session of the UN Commission for Science and Technology for Development (21-25 May) and the World Information Society Day ceremony (16 May 2007), the cluster will also include multi-stakeholder implementation facilitation meetings and various ICT-related meetings and consultations. Registration is available on-line. More information on the WSIS website and on the CONGO website.

Informal consultation between ITU and civil society, 18 May, Geneva

An informal consultation between the International Telecommunication Union and civil society on the participation of all relevant stakeholders in the ITU activities will take place on Friday 18 May,between 10:00 and 13:00, in Room K1/K2 (ITU). The meeting will takeplace in the context of the implementation of PP-06 Resolution 141,which calls for a study of the participation of relevant stakeholders in the activities of the Union related to WSIS.

International Communications Foundation (ICF)

The International Communications Foundation was established in 1988 with a purpose to contribute to harmonious and fruitful development ofthe world by promoting international communications through studiesand grant making in a wide range of areas related to internationaltelecommunications. Their applications are invited through public announcement. Grant-making areas include: Research Grant, Grant forholding International Conferences, Grant for Social-Contribution andCultural Activities.

For more Information, see: www.icf.or.jp/english/index.html