July 4th, 2014

“Tertiary education must help address the challenge of e-inclusion”, says Professor Tim Unwin

PLYMOUTH, UNITED KINGDOM, 4 JULY 2014 – Professor Tim Unwin, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation called this week for universities and other tertiary educational institutions to reflect a more inclusive information society in their teaching and research.

In a keynote address he delivered on “Responsible research in a digital world: ICTs for development” at the University of St Mark & St John’s Annual University Conference, Professor Unwin focused on four key areas:

• The use of ICTs by people with disabilities;
• ICTs youth and skills development, focusing on how ICTs can support out of school youth;
• The need to balance a “human rights” agenda with a focus on the responsibilities of governments and individuals; and
• The need for a rigorous debate over privacy and security in the use of digital technologies.”

“These are some of the areas the CTO is currently focused on; they continue to suffer from a persisting deficit in knowledge and understanding, and to address them, more effort is required from all stakeholders, including universities.” he said, before praising the Plymouth-based university for its “encouraging plans for digital scholarship, global citizenship and employer partnership, all of which are key themes and relevance to the work currently being undertaken by the CTO”.