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IT Awareness and Promotion in the Community > Digital Solidarity Fund
"Digital Solidarity Fund" - Bridging Digital Divide through Tripartite Effort
Advancement in information and communication technologies (ICT) has dramatically transformed people's lives in the last few decades, bringing new opportunities in education, employment and socio-economic development. However, the gap between those who have access to ICT and those who have not is believed to be widening rapidly. This digital divide constitutes a major problem to modern society especially in the area of social development and poverty alleviation.
With the financial support from the Government and the private sector, the Hong Kong Council of Social Service (HKCSS) launched a "Digital Solidarity Fund" (DSF) on 15 December 2004 to support digital inclusion programs and to engage different stakeholders in designing and implementing digital inclusion strategies for Hong Kong. 6.0 million dollars and about 2.0 million dollars had been funded by the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer and the private sector respectively, application is open to organisations from all sectors which should have a commitment on bridging the digital gap, the eligible organizations could be from non-governmental sector, welfare and charitable sector as well as professional or IT bodies.
DSF committee consists of representatives from the Government, NGOs and the private sector, they dedicated to help the disadvantaged groups through tripartite effort to catch up with the information society development. Hong Kong is a leading city in both economic and social development. Promoting digital solidarity can build a just and caring information society.
DSF provides financial sponsorship to projects which aim at:
Providing and/or enhancing the ICT access/infrastructure for the disadvantaged (e.g. computer recycling programs for low income families; enhancing the capabilities of computer hardware/software for people with special needs to access internet);
Improving the ICT knowledge/skills and information literacy of the disadvantaged groups (e.g. awareness raising programs or training courses for people with special needs); or
Integration of ICT disadvantaged groups into information society (e.g. promoting universal design of websites; establishing cyber-communities for people with special needs).
The DSF committee would base on the coverage/size of beneficiaries, effectiveness, applicants' past experiences and innovation/creativity of the project as vetting criteria in selecting finding projects, maximum grant for single project was set at $200,000. DSF adopted a wide definition of "ICT disadvantaged", some possible beneficiaries of DSF supported projects could include, but are not limited to Senior Persons, People with Disabilities, Single Parent Families, Low Income Families, New Arrivals and Women.
Since 2005, the DSF committee has already approved 29 projects with a total funding support of about 4.6 million dollars.
| Enquiry: | DSF Secretariat | |
| | Room 1108, 11/F., Duke of Windsor Social Service Bldg. | |
| | 15 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong | |
| | Tel : 28642965 | |
| | Fax : 28650823 | |
| | Email: dsf@hkcss.org.hk |
2003 © | Important notices | Privacy Policy | Last review date : 31 August 2008
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