The DSF and the Glocal Forum in full synch

On 10 October 2005, the DSF signed a cooperation agreement with the Glocal Forum. The objective of this agreement is to explore the possibilities of collaborating on projects intended to bridge the digital divide. The Glocal Forum is a not-for-profit foundation which objective is to reduce economic and social inequalities at the global level by the promoting intercity relations. It seeks to establish a better balance between global and local actors, hence the term «glocal» – a contraction of global and local.

According to the Glocal Forum, it is urgent to identify the interests and cultural identities of those left out of the global economic growth, so that better solutions can be found to promote their development. This foundation proposes a new paradigm for international relations, as well as an innovative practice of co-operation for development, named «Glocalization». This strategy is based on interconnecting local communities with the global knowledge network, in order to support initiatives for peace and development. The Glocalization strategy assigns a privileged role to cities and local authorities as international actors, based on the postulate that co-operation among urban centres across the planet empowers people to face global challenges. «Cities are the institutions closest to citizens, and are on the front lines in the fight against poverty», says Ambassador David Kimche, President of the Glocal Forum. It is in this spirit of fostering co-operation among local communities and global actors that the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) comes into play. «The technological strategy of Glocal is to empower towns to improve their actions and their relations with their citizens by introducing ICTs», explains Mr. Kimche.

The DSF and the Glocal Forum identified the fields where their collaboration will be translated concretely: supporting the development of cities in introducing conditions for good governance, economic development of cities and local communities, building of an alliance between cities to better fight poverty, as well as distributing ICTs at the municipal level in order to increase the aid to populations.