ICT for Development Highlighted at International Cross Media Festival ‘Picnic’

At a special progamme at the PICNIC event called 'Comm Conference: Digital Media for a Better Future,' projects and companies from both the North and the South present their current work and technical applications. Field experts and specialists feed the debate focusing on real issues, ethics, the environment and techniques.

Demonstrating innovative solutions

The presentations and discussions feature a selection of guest speakers from Africa, Latin America and Dutch NGO’s. They will demonstrate the innovative solutions they developed themselves using mobile technology, mapping, open data and web 2.0 that contribute to the development of the economy and society. IICD will be present with case studies from Bolivia presented by Luis Villegas Gomez (Local IT-entrepreneur in Santa Cruz, Bolivia) and a presentation on Dgroups by Saskia Harmsen.

Other presentations will be held by 'ICT for development' (ICT4D)-minded organisations Akvo, Text to Change, Map Kibera and Both Ends. The programme will be introduced by keynote speaker Dr. Christoph Stork from Research ICT Africa (Namibia). He will focus on the demand of ICT access and usage on the African continent, for use by regulators, policy makers and multilateral agencies.

Annual festival

PICNIC Festival is an annual three day event mixing creativity, science, technology, media and business to generate and share ideas for business, people and society. This year, the event is held at the NDSM Warf in Amsterdam. 'Comm Conference: Digital Media for a Better Future' is held at Hangar A at the festival between 10 am and 5 pm. Visit PICNIC’s website for the full details of the programme.