On 12 February 2003, United Nations representatives, NGOs, and private sector participants met at the United Nations Headquarters in New York to explore ideas and programs promoting inclusive accessibility of information and communications worldwide. The focus was on how connectivity can help people of every sort –the young, the old, women, the poor, etc., to become meaningful parts of a global society based on sustained human, social and economic development.

The broader context for this daylong discussion was provided by the Secretary-General’s report "Strengthening of the United Nations: An Agenda for Further Change," in combination with the International Conference on Financing for Development, and the World Summit on Sustainable Development. The daylong series of presentations was organized by the International Council for Caring Communities ( ICCC ) in close cooperation with the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT); UN Programme on Ageing; Department of Economic and Social Affairs; UN ICT Task Force; Department of Public Information; members of the private sector and other NGOs including the NGO Committee on Ageing at the United Nations in NY.

· Encourage cooperative public/private efforts to make it possible for the benefits stemming from the digital revolution to be accessible to all persons -- including older persons, the young, the poor, and those who have been marginalized. Strong, active NGO participation was proposed to better facilitate these partnerships. Examples: Hewlett Packard, the Inter-American Development Bank, World Bank and COPEL Energy Corporation.

· Find effective ways to harness the ICT revolution to make a real difference in helping to empower and accelerate development of all generations. These efforts should include bold, innovative and inclusive educational policies that will make the idea of lifelong knowledge a reality.

· Design ICT /social/economic/developmental initiatives that reflect specific needs and local conditions—all policies must be country- and region-specific and should help to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals.

· Promote the concept of investing in human capital by updating skills throughout life as well as to make new information available and as part of the fabric of human rights. Examples: UNESCO’s Global Knowledge Partnership and multimedia centers using radio stations as an interface and China’s CNCA pilot project in Shanghai to develop information connectivity using NGOs and volunteers to communicate information on all social services for older persons.

· Stimulate international support for developing new programs that reflect and match new conditions reflected in such initiatives as the ICT Innovation Program for e-business, the SMR Development Program and the Media Convergence Program.

· Expand policies to link early education with labor force transformation through a variety of "classrooms" including virtual learning on PCs at jails, community centers, the workplace, and by using new funding methods such as vouchers, alternative accreditations, and telematics.

· Acknowledge that older persons are among those who have not yet fully benefited from the potential of ICT and focus on solutions and projects for their inclusion, retraining and skill rehabilitation—encourage cross-generational opportunities within communities.

· Eradicate the habit of mental passivity that leads to information stagnation by defining education as more than what is learned in the classroom. Define education as information that is needed for and about life and include this kind of sustained education concept in the Summit’s Priorities along with protecting the environment and social development. Example: the Modern University of the Humanities in Russia that is equipped with 372 branches in 328 cities and has its own planetary satellite teleport.

· Explore new directions and ways of introducing and using ICT through regional initiatives such as the already existing diaspora network models in Africa and the Caribbean.

· Promote new forms of dialogue and collaboration among private, public and governmental entities enhancing transparency and accountability such as Digital Era Parliament; Digital Regulation Program; an e-governmental model program; and the promotion of Telecasters.

· Focus on the appropriate and effective types of interfaces that need to be employed to make information connectivity possible anywhere and everywhere in the world, which is another aspect of inclusiveness.

· Establish an overall and comprehensive "Society for All Ages" blueprint for connectivity.

· Integrate local and global perspectives to provide connectivity for older persons through programs like UNESCO’s Global Knowledge Partnership.

· Eliminate e-homelessness for older people through ICT facilities.

· Create "New Families" by using ICT to connect refugees or abandoned youth with older persons without children.

· Consider how lifelong learning, multi-generational dialogues, oral histories and easy access to information can help shape a common future.

· Adapt successful projects to local cultures that can provide safe-living urban environments at minimal cost. Consider the ingenious use of ICTs in Harbin, China, and expand initiatives and applications accordingly.

· Stimulate new ICT solutions that include the needs and experiences of older person at universities worldwide. Example: ICCC proposes a 2004 Student Communication Competition to inspire students to analyze their local communities/regions to find ways to achieve inclusive technology connectivity. These proposals should have the effect of focusing global attention on the importance of ICTs in achieving sustainable human development. The winners of the Competition will present their solutions at the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunisia, November 2005.