In December 2003, the Naledi3d Factory, a participant in the Business Incubator at The Innovation Hub, received a Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation sponsorship (through its ICT Entrepreneurs for Development Fund) to exhibit at the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva.
The first such event on the information society ever held, the 2003 WSIS was hosted by the Swiss government and consisted of a core political event, involving the 191 United Nations (UN) member states, alongside an exhibition and a number of conferences proposed by governments, international organisations, the civil society and private sector. The second phase of the summit will take place in Tunis in 2005.
Aimed at a broad range of stakeholders, the 2003 WSIS drew over 15 000 UN, private sector, government, civil society and NGO representatives from around the world.
The ICT4 Development Exhibition, which ran in parallel with the summit, combined 40 conferences with more that 200 exhibitors from 50 countries. Covering 16000m2, it showcased 300 visionary projects, innovative concepts, new services and products supporting the global use of innovative ICT.
The Naledi3D Factory's sponsored attendance of the 2003 WSIS came from a suggestion by UNESCO in Paris that they apply to the Swiss-funded ICT Entrepreneurs for Development Fund. This was set up specifically to finance small and medium-sized companies and entrepreneurs from developing and transition countries to showcase their concepts, services and products at the ICT for Development Platform at the summit.
In total, only 30 SME companies from around the world, including the Naledi3d Factory, were successful in receiving sponsorship - companies that were felt to be applying ICT technologies in new and innovative ways.
From their participation in the exhibition, the Naledi3d Factory has identified a number of opportunities where VR can be applied in education and are following up on a number of leads. These include West Africa, Ethiopia, Bahrain, the UK (HIV/AIDS), the US (learning in Indian communities), as well as SA itself.
As Dave Lockwood, MD of the Naledi3d Factory, says: "It is amazing how one has to go so far to meet the right people from so near - often people from Pretoria."
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