Twenty promising undergraduate students from seven ASEAN member countries will begin their scholarships to study information and communications technology (ICT) for socio-economic development at Daejeon University (DJU) in the Republic of Korea, on Tuesday, 1 April, 2008. The exchange programme is a collaboration between the ASEAN University Network (AUN) and DJU, with technical support from UN-APCICT.
Press Release No. G/16/2008
Bangkok (United Nations Information Services) , 31 March 2008 – Twenty promising undergraduate students from seven ASEAN member countries will begin their scholarships to study information and communications technology (ICT) for socio-economic development at Daejeon University (DJU) in the Republic of Korea, on Tuesday, 1 April, 2008.
The students will start tomorrow the orientation phase of the 2008 International College Student Exchange Programme. The exchange programme is a collaboration between the ASEAN University Network (AUN) and DJU, with technical support from the United Nations Asian and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication Technology (UN-APCICT). It aims to enhance the knowledge of ICT among college level students; and promote closer ICT collaboration between ASEAN and the Republic of Korea, and among ASEAN nations.
While the programme began in 2001, this is the first year in which the emphasis is on the application of ICT for the development and achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The eight MDGs – which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015 – form a blueprint agreed to by all the world’s countries and all the world’s leading development institutions. They have galvanized unprecedented efforts to meet the needs of the world’s poorest.
The scholarships will cover all the costs associated with the students’ study at DJU for up to one academic year. As part of the programme, UN-APCICT will deliver courses on the role of ICT in national development and regional technical cooperation to achieve the MDGs.
In addition, a short-term internship at UN-APCICT will be offered to five students. Under the guidance of professional staff members of UN-APCICT, the students will develop in-depth papers on the state of ICT for development and capacity building initiatives in their respective countries.
Tuesday’s orientation for the students, hosted by DJU, will be given by AUN, the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT) and UN-APCICT.
