Knowledge volunteers
A series of training workshops designed to equip Ambassadors with a comprehensive understanding of the digital divide and its challenges began in March 2009. Ambassadors are then encouraged to apply and put forth feasible and effective solutions or suggestions. With an emphasis on the multi-stakeholder perspective, they are tasked to plan, organize and execute their own community projects surrounding the topics. NetMission believes that only by equipping youth with knowledge and first-hand experiences, can we work together to create a more harmonious digital world.
An Autonomous working environment
After training, the tasks of organizing the community projects are then left in the hands of NetMission Ambassadors. The autonomic nature of the projects means Ambassadors can choose their own area of focus and brainstorm ideas accordingly. They would arrange their own meeting times and agendas, and contact partners for collaboration to organize events and programs. With the autonomy and freedom to organize themselves in a way that suits them best, the program aims to synergize upon each of the Ambassadors’ creativity, strengths, talents and resources. This encourages Ambassadors to act in coherence with what the digital divide and internet means to them and their generation, while DotAsia facilitates and supports them along the way in the learning process. The program hopes to help youth to unleash their potential and realise their role and contribution to society.
An emphasis on international collaboration, and participation from all sectors
The program’s multi-stakeholder approach has won the collaboration of many organizations that spans the IT sectors, educational institutes, youth groups, volunteer groups, elderly groups and social organizations, amongst others. For instance, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology’s UST Connect Program has invited NetMission to educate their students about digital divide issues and how students can assist in increasing digital literacy. NetMission also participated in Make a Difference (MAD) and hosted in their workshop series. The Chidren’s group worked with Sun Hung Kei Properties to host a Children’s carnival at the Park Central Shopping Center in Tseung Kwan O. To increase our understanding of Internet Governance, four of us also participated in the Internet Governance Workshop organized by DiploFoundation and Freedom House to exchange our views with various professionals.
We believe that the digital divide has influenced so many levels of the society, that it is no longer adequately addressed by the IT world alone. We hope that NetMission’s work will likewise be able to represent society’s voice, and raise the awareness of the public to these issues.
Participation in Regional and International conferences
As the original “netizens” of the Internet, our Ambassadors have been able to use their insights and projects to raise awareness in the IT world, especially from their point of view as users and youth. As a result, Dotasia actively selects and invites Ambassadors who have made significant contributions to participate in regional and international conferences.
This passion for bridging the digital divide and promoting a harmonious Internet environment has even brought Bianca Ho, one of our ambassadors, in contact with Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, and Macon Phillips, the White House’s Director of New Media. Likewise, exposure to internet issues has also helped Richard Cheng secure an internship at Google this summer.
On the international level, NetMission Ambassadors have participated in various international conferences, including the Asia Pacific Network Information Center Conference (APNIC), Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the Asia Pacific Next Generation Camp (APNG) and the United Nations Internet Governance Forum (UNIGF) conferences in Beijing, Seoul, Kuala Lampur and Egypt respectively. These opportunities echo with DotAsia's efforts to build up the Internet Society.
The NetMission Ambassadors Programme, though only recently established, has already received encouraging feedback from the community. The program was awarded the Hong Kong KCT Awards 2009@ Best Digital Inclusion Award (Service). With such encouragement, NetMission hopes to branch out its program to involve other regions in Asia as well.
The Second generation of NetMission Ambassadors will be open for recruitment in September 2010. We are proud to announce that NetMission Taiwan and NetMission Beijing will also be opening this year. Indeed, the NetMission Ambassadors Program is the first step in involving youth in Asia.
