Sunday, January 13, 2008

E-Bario and E-Inclusion workshop held in Malaysia


IITF NEWS - The e-Bario Knowledge Fair, a multi-disciplinary conference, took place on 6-8 December 2007 and incorporated the UNDP Workshop on E-inclusion and Media for Asia’s Indigenous Peoples.

The e-Bario Knowledge Fair was held in the remote village of Bario, in the Kelabit Highlands of Sarawak, one of the states of East Malaysia on the island of Borneo. Bario is the traditional home of the Kelabit people, one of Malaysia's smallest indigenous ethnic minority groups. It is also the home of the multi-award winning e-Bario project that introduced computers, telephones and the internet to this isolated community.

Teanau Tuiono, a member of the IITF and manager of its project "www.indigenousportal.com" participated in the conference, which provided a unique opportunity to "share the progress of the Portal to a range of Indigenous ICT and Non-indigenous academics."

Arising from the joint proceedings, the delegates formulated the e-Bario Vision for Indigenous Peoples,which was presented to the 3rd Global Knowledge Conference (GK3).