"Transforming Government, Empowering Communities, and Building the Knowledge Economy" on Tuesday, January 15 at 12:00pm in J1-050

InfoShop, Finance and Private Sector Development Unit, South Asia Region &
e-Development Thematic Group

invite you to a book launch and dissemination seminar:

Transforming Government, Empowering Communities, and Building the Knowledge
Economy

How should countries harness the ongoing ICT revolution to create new
development strategies and accelerate the development process? How can
developing countries take advantage of the opportunities for outsourcing and the
globalization of services? How can poor countries make access to ICT
affordable and sustainable to the majority of population? How can ICT be
deployed to transform government services and make public agencies more
client-centered? What kinds of innovation systems can promote the application of
ICT to serve local needs, rural areas and the poor? And what does it take to
build institutions to lead the movement towards ICT-enabled competitive
economies and inclusive information societies?

The two volumes respond to these challenges presenting a concrete case
study of how one country is bridging the gap between vision and actionable
programs. E-Sri Lanka is an integrated, client-driven program and the
first of its kind to be funded by the World Bank. It is about investing in
the necessary policies, institutions, capabilities, infrastructures, and
information technology applications for a poor country to join the global
knowledge economy, transform public services, and empower local
communities.

The event will also be available via live webcast:
http://www.worldbank.org/edevelopment/live

Tuesday, January 15, 2008
12:00 - 2:00 pm
World Bank J Building Auditorium J1 - 050
701 18th St. NW, corner of 18th St. and Pennsylvania Ave.
A reception will follow the presentation
*RSVP REQUIRED* Please email infoshopevents@worldbank.org

OPENING REMARKS BY
Praful Patel
Vice President, South Asia Region, World Bank

MODERATED BY
Simon Bell
Manager, Finance and Private Sector Development, South Asia, World Bank

PRESENTED BY
Nagy Hanna
Author; Senior Research Fellow at University of Maryland; former senior advisor
at World Bank

COMMENTS BY
Philippe Dongier
Manager, Communication and Information Technology Policy, Global ICT Department,
World Bank

Manju Haththotuwa
Former CEO of Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka;
Senior ICT Policy Specialist, World Bank

CONCLUDING REMARKS BY
Dhanendra Kumar
Executive Director, Bangladesh; Bhutan; India; and Sri Lanka, World Bank

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
About the InfoShop
The InfoShop is the public information center of the World Bank and serves as a
forum for substantial debate on international development. Our extensive events
program consists of more than 250 events over the past two years and has hosted
many internationally recognized speakers including Queen Noor, Francis Fukuyama,
Jeffrey Sachs, Amartya Sen, Joseph Stiglitz, Thomas Friedman, and Carly Fiorina.
The InfoShop functions as the only publicly accessible space at headquarters and
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issues.
For more information, visit: www.worldbank.org/infoshop
Comments about the events program: http://go.worldbank.org/TDG9T8O9K0

(See attached file:
InfoShop-TransformingGovernment,EmpoweringCommunities,andBuildingtheKnowledgeEconomy.doc)