IICD receives renewed support from the Dutch government

IICD plays an important role in the implementation of Dutch ICT-enabled development. This unique policy has been aimed at the realisation of the eighth Millennium Development Goal: in cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies— especially information and communications technologies.

For the period 2006-2010 IICD has developed a new five-year strategy that reinforces existing ICT based knowledge-sharing networks which aim to extend and reinforce development. Part of the strategy is also to renew the interest of private companies in a partnership with IICD.

The aim of IICD is to become an ICT for development expertise organisation, by using the knowledge and experience that has been built since 1996.

Jac Stienen, Director of IICD is pleased with the approval of the Minister. Allocating the funding shows ‘that IICD is working well. We want show that ICT offers real possibilities to fight poverty and to achieve sustainable development. The evaluation report from DGIS in 2003, along with our own self-evaluation reports, demonstrates that the use of ICTs in combination with our approach can, and do, achieve concrete results in striving towards sustainable development. With this approach we make a substantial contribution to the realisation of the UN Millennium Development Goals.’

IICD has been set up in 1996, with the aim of fighting poverty in developing countries by realising sustainable development through ICT. IICD are active in nine countries: Burkina Faso, Bolivia, Ecuador, Ghana, Jamaica, Mali, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. Its aim is to have developed a unique strategy in which terms such as 'local ownership' and 'capacity development' are key to development.