Click here for the Overview and Summary of the Roundtable Event 110K PDF

DFI Roundtable Event: Representative from Afrika ICT Strategies speaking

Objectives of the DFI Public/Private Sector Roundtable

DFI held a conference attended by 150 members of the private sector, NGOs and government agencies on February 20, 2007, at the State Department in Washington, DC. The conference established a dialogue regarding private/public partnerships to promote information and communication technologies (ICTs) to serve economic, social and political development.

The DFI convened a Public/Private Sector Roundtable on February 20, 2007 to provide a forum for the U.S. Government, private, academic and NGO participants to exchange views and ideas on how best to work together to achieve the goal for DFI in 2007 of using ICTs to support economic, social and political development.

DFI Roundtable Event: Representative from Oracle (speaking)

Roundtable Participants

The DFI Public/Private Sector Roundtable brought together more than 150 participants from the U.S. Government, the private sector, foreign embassies, as well as other organizations involved in the implementation of ICT-related development activities.

Opening Remarks

Ambassador David A. Gross, the U.S. Coordinator for International Communication and Information Policy, and Juan Belt, the Director of USAID's Office of Infrastructure and Engineering, Bureau for Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade, opened the conference.

Representatives from Motorola and Intel at the DFI Roundtable Event

Ambassador Gross said the meeting was a first step in a series of formal and informal outreach by the U.S. Government to set the objectives for DFI in 2007. He emphasized that the U.S. Government team, including State, USAID, Commerce, Peace Corps, SBA and others, hoped to hear from the private sector on specific opportunities for intervention, and in particular specific regions or countries where well-designed activities could have a significant impact.

DFI Roundtable Event: Representative from Verizon speaking

Juan Belt stated that USAID was working closely with Ambassador Gross and his team on issues related to ICT for development. USAID's efforts have focused on policy and regulatory reforms as well as technology and connectivity deployments. The Last Mile Initiative (LMI), for instance, has projects in more than 25 countries, including the extremely successful Macedonia Connects project. Mr. Belt noted that almost all LMIs include strong partnerships with private US firms, and that we welcome similar partnerships under the DFI. Mr. Belt emphasized USAID's commitment to seeking partnerships with the private sector and others under DFI.

The moderated discussion resulted in a number of recommended focus areas for the DFI in 2007.

• Encouraging regulatory reform to foster a pro-competitive and enabling environment
• Enhancing Access and Connectivity to ICT services in underserved areas and across regions
• Expanding the use of technology in health care, for example, with the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)
• Expanding the use of technology in education
• Assisting Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises to increase their efficiency by using ICTs

Click here for the Overview and Summary of the Roundtable Event 110K PDF

The roundtable was only the first step in refining our goals for 2007. As a next step, DFI would like to form public-private working teams to develop, propose, and then if approved implement projects that demonstrate the importance of ICTs for development. If you would like to participate in any of the teams or have other input to share, please reply by sending a message to ckeene@usaid.gov or fill in the DFI Input form. All information collected will be treated as business-confidential.