(ANSAmed) - TRIESTE, MAY 17 - The Central Europe Initiative
(CEI) has today in Geneva presented a project at the World
Summit on the Information Society to develop a multimedia
platform of videoconferences and related training covering a
wide range of institutional users.
Organised by four UN organisations (Itu, Unesco, Unctad,
Undp), the summit involved over 1,500 participants from
government, businesses and civil society. The project presented
today is a component of the project entitled Improving
Cooperation in South-East Europe by Actions for Strengthening
the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), which is promoted by the
General Enlargement Directorate of the European Commission and
is coordinated by CEI.
In his speech, the deputy general secretary of CEI, Giorgio
Rosso Cicogna, stressed the innovative results of the project in
terms of greater efficiency in regional cooperation and
long-term sustainability of the process. The multimedia platform
of videoconferences and the positive outcomes will be extended
to other regional organisations operating in Eastern Europe and
the Balkans.
Jovan Kurbalija, the director and founder of the
DiploFoundation, a non-profit organisation based in Switzerland
and one of CEI's partners in this project, pointed out how
''e-diplomacy, or the use of the internet to facilitate
diplomatic relations, concerns important and topical issues:
increasing participation by citizens and local communities in
politics and reducing the costs of modern diplomacy. The
potential use of the net in the area of e-diplomacy can only be
increased through its gradual integration in institutional and
political contexts''.(ANSAmed).
