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NPOs and NGOs working in the field of information and communications, members from NGOs and NPOs related to the field of community media, and IT researchers will gather at this conference to discuss the subject of networking.
This will be the first time that this conference will have been convened in Japan.
We will discuss the way to facilitate the use of the internet in the wider community, what communications media should offer, then, what we will do next such as the creation of working groups.

In preparation for the coming U.N World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), to be held in December 2003 in Geneva, Asian NGOs which support the development of communications networks will come together and discuss the issues relevant to the Asian region, as part of a larger global problem, and how to solve them.

Rich Cowan has bachelors and masters degrees in computer science from M.I.T and ten years of experience working in political campaigns or social change organizations. Organizers' Collaborative provides technology tools and networking resources to activists all across the U.S., including DemocracyGroups.org, a social change email list directory, and Organizers Database, a software program designed for community organizers and small nonprofits without in-house technology skills. Prior to founding Organizers' Collaborative, Rich worked as academic computer support specialist, a database consultant, an adjunct faculty member, a newspaper editor, and as a nonprofit founder. He also Rich started the Center for Campus Organizing from 1991-7, making extensive use of the Internet to network progressive students and faculty. Rich was also one of the main organizers of the 1985 Scientists' Pledge in which 7000 scientsts in the U.S. refused to participate in the Strategic Defense Initiative ("Star Wars") program. Rich has written articles for Responsive Philanthropy, Techsoup.org, and he has spoken at several conferences on Technology for Community Organizing, including the InfoTAP/Waitt conference in San Diego in December 2002.

Alan G. Alegre
the Foundation of Media Alternatives, FMA

Alan Alegre is the Executive Director of the Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA), a non-profit service institution in the Philippines which specializes in media-based initiatives, particularly in democratizing information and communication resources for civil society organizations. Alan directs program- and project-based interventions related to Internet access and connectivity, capability-building, content development, and policy development and advocacy for communication rights.
Alan is an active participant in and convenor of NGO meetings related to the Internet, ICTs and New Media and often represents civil society in national and international multi-sectoral meetings, policy fora, and summits related to communication rights and information/knowledge networking. He has been active in the preparatory processes of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), acts as convenor of Asian CSOs along this line, and was recently designated as the representative of the Asian NGO family in the WSIS Civil Society Bureau set up in February 2003. He is also currently the Chair of the Philippine Development NGOs for International Concerns (PHILINK), an NGO consortium involved in international information networking and development exchanges. He also sits in as the representative of FMA in various civil society networks.

Nakamura Yoichi
Professor at the Law Faculty and Graduate School of Society Design Studies, Rikkyo University

Since the mid-1980s, inspired by such keywords as ‘Networking’ and ‘NPO’, he has gone into the field and studied civil activities firsthand, researched NPO and NGOs from the perspective of practical usage, designed infrastructure models, and conceived policy proposals. After being a committee member of the project management section of the Japan NPO Center, he is now the Director of NPO Support Center, Director of 21st Century Coop Research Center, Committee member of the Citizens’ Society Creation Foundation, Director of the Public Resources Center, Executive member of the Saitama NPO Center, Adviser and Executive member of Sumairu-network, as well as holding the academic positions as a Director of the Japan NPO Academic Association, and Vice-Chairperson of the Japan Volunteer Academic Association.

Hamada Tadahisa
The Chair of JCAFE

After helping create information networks among NGOs during the Gulf War in 1991, he started to establish an organization which would work as a base for NGOs’ computer networking. He founded Japan Computer Access For Empowerment (JCAFE) which helps facilitate the use of the Internet among NPOs and NGOs. He has also made suggestions relating to the information society from the citizen’s point of view. His target is to create an information society in which people can live in comfort.