The Development Gateway
Are you concerned with development issues such as reducing poverty and improving the life of people in developing countries? Do you need an interactive platform to share work that is important to your community and find information in this scope? The Development Gateway can make all that possible.
What is the Development Gateway and how did it start?
The Development Gateway is an interactive portal for information and knowledge sharing on sustainable development and poverty reduction. The Gateway offers users access to the most comprehensive database of development projects, an international procurement marketplace and knowledge sharing on key development topics.
The Development Gateway foundation started as a program within the World Bank and emerged to be an independent non-profit organization.
Mission
The purpose of the Development Gateway is to promote development by building partnerships and information systems that provide access to knowledge for development. This is achieved by using powerful and affordable information and communication technologies that were previously unavailable in order to:
- Increase knowledge sharing
- Enable aid effectiveness
- Improve public sector transparency and
- Build local capacity to empower communities.
BA's Role
On 17 November 2005, Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA) and the Development Gateway Foundation announced the project. The portal, a preview of which was presented at the World Summit for the Information Society (WSIS), aims to address the existing shortage of development information for the Arab World.
On 11 March 2006, an agreement was signed between Bibliotheca Alexandrina and the Development Gateway Foundation. According to the agreement the BA will collaborate on this project in phases:
1. Take ownership of the main Gateway site in Arabic and be responsible for Arabic translation, similar to the current functionality of the Gateway Spanish and French version. The BA will be responsible for translating and augmenting the Development Gateway’s collection of information resources relevant to the region.
2. Create and maintain an Arabic-language Community “Arab Reform”. The “Arab Reform” Community will be a pan-Arab portal containing key resources relevant to a broad spectrum of social and economic reforms currently underway in the Arab world. In particular, resources related to the governance sector will include human rights, freedom of expression, and rule of law; in economic reform to youth employment, poverty, trade, and regional and international integration with the world economy; in social reforms to family education, health, and the removal of all forms of discrimination against women; and in cultural reforms to religious discourse as much as to public, media discourse, and the promotion of research and scientific thinking.
3. Design, develop and host the Egypt Country Gateway in Arabic similar to the China Country Gateway. Country Gateways are locally owned and operated initiatives which explore the use of information and communication technologies for development in their countries. By participating in and launching diverse online and offline initiatives, they enhance transparency, efficiency, dynamism and sustainability of the development process in their countries.
Accomplishments
The legal approvals required from the World Bank to proceed with the translation of the material on the Development Gateway website, as well as all necessary legal approvals and copyright authorizations from all entities concerned with the material that is subject for translation, were acquired.
Key resources relevant to current Arab social and economic reforms were gathered and thus the Arabic-language Community "Arab Reform" was created. These resources are provided by special advisors and partner organizations. Currently, over 300 resources created by the dialogue forum team and other community members are available online. In March 2007, the Arabic version of the main Gateway as well as the website for the Arab Reform community(http://topics.developmentgateway.org/arab) were officially launched.
The BA's Dialogue Forum personnel are responsible for updating the website and were trained on how to use the website's backend. The ISIS team is continuously maintaining the Arabic web pages and ensuring that all information is correctly displayed.
Website: http://topics.developmentgateway.org/arab
Future Work
ISIS is currently working on resolving some problems related to Arabization. In addition, new module in the Arab Reform Community such as the Discussion Forum, will be open soon. The Egypt Country Gateway is yet to be designed, developed and hosted.
Partners & Participants:
Last updated on 05 Oct 2008