President Lula is awarded the ITU World Telecommunication Award

Photos

A title here is required | Photo 534

see larger image

uploaded by VascoPress Comunicações

São Paulo, 18 May 2009 — The ITU World Telecommunication and Information Society has announced that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, along with Rob Conway, CEO of GSMA, and Deborah Taylor Tate, former Commissioner of the US Federal Communications Commission were honoured with the 2009 ITU World Telecommunication and Information Society Award at a ceremony held in Geneva today. H.M. Queen Silvia of Sweden was the patron on the occasion of the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day.

The theme for 2009 is Protecting Children in Cyberspace. ITU World Telecommunication and Information Society Awards President Lula’s government has promoted digital inclusion programmes such as "PC for all" that aims to provide low-cost computers to Brazil's low-income population. Focusing on school-age children, President Lula has demonstrated deep concern about the safety of children in cyberspace. Last year, he sanctioned a new Brazilian Law against sexual exploitation of children on the Internet, and since 2003, the "call 100" service has been gathering information on child pornography on the Internet. Accepting the award in a videotaped message, President Lula said he was honoured because ITU has recognized the measures that have been taken in Brazil for digital inclusion while protecting children from sexual exploitation on the global network. "We want to protect, but also expand access to cyberspace, especially for the disadvantaged," President Lula said. "Among the measures taken include distributing computers and other items to about 5,500 Brazilian municipalities. All the country's urban public schools are being equipped with broadband Internet. And we are experimentally distributing 150 thousand notebooks for students and teachers to promote basic public education."