For Councillor Michelangeli the Digital Bridge Project represents “concrete support for the promotion of rights, the development of active citizenship and the sustainability of a population with so many resources.” The project will continue to be developed and will be re-financed up to 2010 after which it will be fully managed locally. Fontem hosts the National Youth Festival: for the first time youth from Rome will be together with the young Africans to celebrate the country’s independence and their new phase of development.
Everyone was present at the momentous event to celebrate the contribution of technology to development and cooperation.
In Fontem, the event was held at the Centro Mariopoli at the presence of the highest local authorities (Fon, Mayor, Prefect and School Administrators) and students. In Rome, the videoconference was transmitted in the Sala Tevere of the Lazio Region, allowing students and teachers to participate in the official inauguration of the Internet Connection. Moreover, two Roman schools - “B. Russell” and “I. Kant” - also participated in the videoconference, while the young children of the 157th Circolo Didattico of Torrimpietra animated the formal meeting room with poetry and songs dedicated to their new “keyboard pals” in Africa. For over two hours, the protagonists of this happening provided a constant flow of images, sounds and words, creating a sole vast scholastic community.
Councillor Mario Michelangeli (Consumer Protection and Administrative Simplification, Lazio Region) proudly defined the Digital Bridge Project as “the most important initiative implemented” during his mandate.
Listen to the Address by Councillor Mario Michelangeli
Lazio Region Council Vice- President Bruno Prestagiovanni underlined that “the digital divide that used to separate these students amongst rich and poor has now been replaced by the fact that they are all citizens of the world, without distinctions.”
The Director General of the Fondazione Mondo Digitale, Mirta Michilli, placed the emphasis on the high degree of synergy reached by the various project protagonists and which “allowed us to fully exploit everyone’s work and obtain the best possible result.” In fact, the operative plan for social and digital inclusion for Cameroon is financed by the Lazio Region, coordinated by the Fondazione Mondo Digitale and implemented on the territory by Azione per un Mondo Unito onlus (AMU), Scuole in Rete di Roma (SIR) and the Lebialem Association for Twinning of Schools (LATS) and Act Now Alliance with the collaboration of the European Space Agency (ESA).
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