St. John's News

Goa, India – St. John’s University’s College of Professional Studies hosted a three-day conference "Information and Communications Technologies and Development" in Panjim, Goa, India this past weekend in an effort to increase public discourse regarding Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and how they can be used for holistic development. Other parties helping to organize the forum were: the Diocesan Centre for Social Communications Media of Goa and Daman and St. John’s Division of Mass Communications.

“We hope that many of the ideas presented at the conference will become seeds from which future wisdom may someday grow,” said Dr. Basilio Monteiro, Assistant Professor at St. John’s University. “We hope that new friendships made and old ones renewed will lead to continued communication and growth.  We also hope that our ideas will lead to action.”

The program began with an enthusiastic, warm welcome from Father Joaquim Loiola Pereira of the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman. He called for all participants of the forum to consider ways that information and communication technologies can serve the wholesome development of the human being.  He stressed the importance of conversation, and that through communication the exchange of ideas can play a role in the making of public policy.

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S.C. Jamir, Governor of the State of Goa, then delivered the inaugural address. The central theme of his talk called attention to the power of ICTs to improve people’s resources and contribute to human development.  He expressed that this can be done by providing accessibility to the common man, protection of rural life and sustainable development with protection of human rights and gender equity.

Monteiro then presented a framework for conversation by connecting the local to the global while asking the question, how can we scrutinize the implementation of ICTs to contribute to genuine human dignity? 

 “We understand that we are in a time and place of great change and that uncertainty generates an even greater tension driving the complex forces we have engaged for our conversation,” said Monteiro. “We understand our connectedness to this moment and realize our personal need and moral responsibility to remain engaged in the pressings concerns that face us now and will undoubtedly continue to face us in the days to come.”

Dr. K. Subramanian gave the Keynote Address:  ICT for India 2010: Empowering through e-Governance. He called for a comprehensive vision with a holistic goal based upon a democracy of  “caring and sharing”. His central theme was ICTs role in improving connectivity to solve the problems and improve human conditions. He presented several models which might address these pressing concerns and gave numerous practical examples of projects that may give us examples to follow.

Several guest speakers from around the world highlighted the three-day conference which included speeches by prominent independent researchers, lecturers and educators like: Dr. Ashok Jhunjhunwalla, Professor, IIT- Madras; Drs. Anjali Monteiro and Jayasankar (Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai; Frederick Noronha, Co-Founder, Bytesforall.org, Goa;   Dr. Kevin Rioux, Assistant Professor of Library and Information Science, St. John’s University; Dr. Peter R. D'Souza, Co-Director, Lokniti - Institute for Comparative Democracy, Programme of Centre for the Study of Developing Societies New Delhi; Dr. K. Subramanian, Deputy Director General at National Infomatics Center, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, New Delhi; Dr. Haridas Varikottil, Caritas-India; Dr. Anibel Ferus-Comelo, Independent Researcher and Educator, Goa and Dr. Freddie D’Souza, Director, Justice and Peace Commission, Catholic Bishops Conference of India.

On the final day of the conference the mood turned from optimism to caution.  All were reminded that all that glistens might not be gold. Where then does the conversation go from here?  There was cause for hope in numerous examples presented during the three-day long conference.  There was no shortage of examples for the optimist.  There is also much to fuel the fears of pessimists. Forces generated far away threaten to transform Goa in the relatively near future.  ICTs will play an important role but only we will determine if it will be positive or negative, only we will choose to behave proactively or reactively. 

It became clear after the three-days of lectures, research reports and educated thought that numerous and complex questions of governance and public policy making influence how and what this outcome will be.  Civil society will have to play a major role in solving problems if they are to be solved. Information and communication technologies must play a crucial role in raising consciousness if we hope to foster a future that will be characterized by human flourishing.

For more information about the conference please contact Elizabeth Reilly, Assistant Director of Media Relations at St. John’s University by calling (718) 990-5789 or e-mail inquiries to reillye@stjohns.edu.