British and Venezuelan information technology experts scoop UN prize

The head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) will present British and Venezuelan projects with $25,000 prizes for work they have done to combine information and communications technology (ICT) with education.

Director-General Irina Bokova will present the two laureates – the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) and Infocentro Foundation – with their 2010 UNESCO King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa Prizes at a ceremony in January at the agency’s headquarters in Paris.

The two winning projects were selected from a field of 50 entrants that responded to this year’s theme “Digital Literacy: Preparing Adult Learners for Lifelong Learning and Flexible Employment.”

NIACE is the leading non-governmental organization (NGO) promoting the interests of adult learners in England and Wales, and through its network of 6,000 internet access centres has forged a reputation as an exemplary model to other countries looking to help adults achieve digital literacy.

Infocentro Foundation was selected for its ‘Technological Literacy for Older Adults’ project, which gives adults free access to ICT services, enabling adult learners to progress from basic computer literacy to more advanced ICTs skills. Infocentro Foundation has enabled almost one million individuals in Venezuela, including those with disabilities, to develop technology literacy skills.

The UNESCO King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa Prize for the Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Education was instituted in 2005. The prize is funded by the Kingdom of Bahrain and is awarded yearly to two laureates. Individuals, institutions and NGOs are eligible to win the prize for excellent ICT use in enhancing learning, teaching and overall educational performance.