Events and Activities

This section will feature recent and upcoming events and activites sponsored by the Cyber Century Forum or included participation of its members.

Each year Cyber Century Forum selects one or more projects in the following categories:

• Spearheads the design and implementation of pilot projects responsive to sector specific or country specific needs

• Conducts targeted research and analysis

• Publishes or facilitates the publication of books, monographs, multi-media CDs and "web-enabled" data links

• Works with education/training programs customized to project objectives and targeted audiences

• Organizes and co-manages conferences, seminars, forums, workshops

• Serves as a catalyst and resource in mentoring programs

• Assists decision makers in the identification and development of sustainable policy and application options

Project priorities include:

NEXTGEN AWARDS AND MENTORS INITIATIVE
NEXTGEN is a multi-year initiative dedicated to inspiring, mentoring and networking young people in developing innovative and practical uses of mobile phones to help improve the quality of life in their communities and beyond.

Please see our NEXTGEN page for more information. Or simply visit www.nextgenawards.org.

POLICY AND RESEARCH:
Extending E-commerce to small, medium and micro enterprises

Linking Early, Late, and Never Adopter Customers

Arab and Muslim World Internet Access, Opportunity and Challenge

Mission and Objectives
The mission of Spirit of America is to expand the abilities of Americans serving abroad to improve the quality of life of people at the grass roots level. Our objectives are to:

• Increase the reach, scale and impact of the informal humanitarian activities that take place on the front lines in troubled regions.
• Contribute charitable goods that can have a positive, practical and timely impact in the local communities where American personnel are involved.
• Improve foreign perceptions of the American people and our presence abroad.

Overview
Spirit of America is supported through private sector contributions and in-kind support. It is being launched under the auspices of the CYBER CENTURY FORUM, a 501c3 public foundation dedicated to supporting projects and initiatives involving information technology and services that promote sustainable development and quality of life. The Spirit of America initiative is designed to help Americans serving abroad improve the lives of people where they serve - places like post-war Iraq and Afghanistan. Through Spirit of America's extensive Internet and website capabilities, it will match up donors with requests submitted by U.S. servicemen and women, Foreign Service, USAID and other reconstruction and assistance personnel for things that will help the local people; e.g., sports equipment, clothing, tools, school supplies, toys and tools. The focus will be on items that established aid bureaucracies and the military are not designed to handle and that typically fall in the gaps between large-scale assistance programs. Utilizing the powerful tools of the Internet, Spirit of America provides facilitating networks of people and technology to enable requests from US personnel abroad to be met though an extensive network of donors in the United States. Donors select the specific requests that they wish to support. Spirit of America collects the donated funds and procures the goods, or secures the direct donation of the requested goods, and arranges shipment to the requestor. The requestor distributes the goods according to the terms outlined in their request.

Background
U.S. citizens serving abroad, civilian and military, have always been the strategic "face" of America. They are our country's front line representatives in the world's most troubled places. Increasingly, they are charged with maintaining and building peace in countries where the needs, and the challenges to stability, are enormous and, where America is often viewed negatively or suspiciously. The success of those serving America abroad depends, in part, on their ability to tangibly demonstrate American goodwill. Americans have a long history of personal generosity to others in need in far away lands. Moreover, thousands of Americans serving abroad have routinely contributed personal time and energy far beyond their job descriptions to help meet special needs in the communities they serve. It is indeed part of the "Spirit of America". Often these needs may be too small or unusual to be addressed by major government or NGO bureaucracies or planning cycles-yet can make an important difference. The activities of U.S. Special Forces Civil Affairs in Afghanistan provide a powerful example. After building a schoolhouse for a small village, a Special Forces team led by Sergeant Jay Smith went on to raise money from their families and friends back home to provide baseball equipment. Within a few weeks the village children had a league and were playing baseball regularly. The village's quality of life, and its perception of America, improved. Sergeant Smith met a small need but made a big impact. This is just one of hundreds of current examples of the voluntary work of American personnel abroad in identifying needs on the ground and taking the initiative to get help from home. The dozens of sewing machines, hundreds of baseballs and thousands of pencils and notebooks and other small items they have put in the hands of those in need have already made a difference.

Spirit of America's initial priority will be to increase the scale and impact of the activities that are already being undertaken, primarily by American soldiers, in post-conflict areas. Following a short pilot project period, SOA plans to be fully operational by Fall 2003 including having in place a customized technological as well as non-bureaucratic human network to expand and replicate these successful and personalized efforts by some of America's most entrusted citizens - those who represent and serve the United States abroad.

ARAB & MUSLIM WORLD: PUBLIC DIPLOMACY COUNTRY PROFILES AND EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH