8:30 -10:00 A.M. INVITED PRESENTATIONS Presentation Language : English (Presentations available in French and English)
	SESSION MODERATOR Dr. Solomon Negash Kennesaw State University, GA - USA & President of the Bethany Memorial Foundation (Ethiopia, East Africa)
	PRESENTATION 1 - The Role of Open Solutions and Open Education Ressources in Solving the Development Equation - Arif Jinha, University of Ottawa, Ottawa -Canada; Moustapha Diack, Southern University, baton Rouge, LA - USA The challenges of the 21st century are global, and despite the immediate urgency of the economic crisis, of climate change and of the MDGs – long-term solutions are needed. Unravelling the complexity of development in globalization will require the open communication of diverse perspectives and knowledge. This communication will have to cross the world's divides in order to bridge them. The contemporary university is positioned at a critical juncture, not only because the increasing complexity of challenges require knowledge, but with regard to the opportunities opening rapidly for learning and knowledge. It at this crossroads that we need a map to understand where these roads meet and how to make sure they take use where we need to be. The Development Equation (DEq) is a model for university-led development based on four clear dimensions that insitutions need to attend today: ICT4D – enabling and maintaining reliable and stable internet connectivity institution-wide, and integrating ICTs in policy and programs. A2K/OS –  access to, creation, management and dissemination of knowledge through Open Solutions (OA/OER, Open Source, web 2.0),  advocacy at national and global fora with regard to intellectual property policy. K4D - Creating, disseminating, and applying knowledge for development.  NPs – Networked Partnerships - Leveraging new communication capacities to revolutionize North-South and South-South instituational and individual links, toward a global knowledge commons. Affiliations: | University Ottawa |Arif Jinha | Southern University | | Southern University | MAN | MERLOT |
	PRESENTATION 2 - The Role of Desktop Virtualization in reducing the Digital Divide: The nComputing Technology - Stephen A. Dukker, Chairman and CEO - ncomputing.com The computer revolution has not fulfilled all its promises on education, information, connectivity, staffing and enrichment of the population worldwide. The main problem lies in the fact that only half of potential users around the world have access to a computer. This is an element which restricts access to knowledge and a very critic of the digital divide. Desktops and laptops today have incredibly fast processors, a large memory and massive hard drives. The power of computers has increased so that a user does a tiny fraction of their actual capabilities. In reality, computers to 330 euros today do that two or three basic applications and use less than 10% of their capacity. presentation will discuss the NComputing solution as a technology to combat the digital divide. The NComputing solution is based on a simple fact: today, computers are so powerful that the vast majority of applications using only a small fraction of their capacity. Software and hardware virtualization NComputing exploit the unused capacity of the computer and shared between multiple users simultaneously, dividing the cost of the computer and offering, in general, four times as many posts for the same price. Affiliations - | NComputing |
|eLearning Africa Conference 2009|

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