Day 3 WISE 2009: Peer-to-Peer Digital Communications Also Have Central Role in Education Practices

DOHA, Qatar, November 18 - Please click on the following link to access the full version of the
Digital Press Release: www.digitalnewsroom.co.uk/wise09/day-three

Emergent, revolutionary technologies such as open, accessible,
peer-to-peer and social media platforms have an influential role to play in
how conventional education is both taught and learned, the World Innovation
Summit for Education - WISE, has heard today.

An initiative of Qatar Foundation, WISE this morning hosted a
plenary session dedicated to Innovation, featuring a panel of world-leading
experts.

Addressing the Summit, Co-founder of Twitter, Biz Stone, spoke
of how, as a very simple service of rudimentary communications, Twitter has
become a real-time educational tool where users help and inform each other,
citing earthquakes, fuel shortages and episodes of geo-political unrest as
prime examples.

"It doesn't matter how many servers we add to the network;
ultimately, we hope Twitter will be a triumph of humanity, not a triumph of
technology," he added.

Professor Sugata Mitra, Professor of Education, Newcastle
University, and the inspiration behind the renowned movie 'Slumdog
Millionaire', declared that "teachers are now no longer required to be
repositories of knowledge", adding that children can learn to teach
themselves and solve often complex matters if equipped and empowered with the
necessary technological tools.

Dr. Tidu Maini, Executive Chairman of Qatar Science &
Technology Park (QSTP) said that the fast pace of development of the
innovation society and the widespread distribution of ICT are, in themselves,
not a sufficiently sustainable educational model. He added that research-led
education is the extra driver that can make an important difference if the
benefits of connectivity are to be mobilized

Dr. Maini added: "There is a need to create a platform of
structured education combined with a new technologically-based infrastructure
which can break bureaucracy and boundaries."

Day three of the Summit concludes with a series of breakout
sessions before a final closing session which will allow the international
participants to deliver a declaration defining educational priorities for
WISE.

ABOUT WISE

WISE (World Innovation Summit for Education) is a global,
groundbreaking collaborative initiative established by Qatar Foundation under
the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al Missned. WISE
seeks to monitor and contribute to 21st century challenges and their impact
on education. With 1,000 leading education stakeholders, opinion leaders and
decision-makers from 120 countries and from the spheres of education,
politics, international institutions, NGOs, grassroots movements, the private
sector, media and multimedia, culture and the arts. WISE endeavours to
propose visionary thinking on education, offer new ways of addressing current
global challenges and untapped opportunities and anticipate future education
models. The WISE Forum will take place in Doha, Qatar, from November 16th to
18th, 2009. Sponsors of the Summit are Exxon Mobil, Qatar Petroleum and
Microsoft Corporation.

Full details on the WISE website: www.wise-qatar.org

ABOUT QATAR FOUNDATION

Founded in 1995 by decree of His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin
Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of Qatar, Qatar Foundation is a non-profit
organization focusing on education, scientific research and community
development. Under Qatar Foundation's umbrella are Education City, which
comprises elite universities, several academic and training programs and
Qatar Science and Technology Park, which boasts more than twenty-one
world-class companies involved in scientific research and development.

Chaired by Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al Missned,
Qatar Foundation also aims to enhance lives through community development
initiatives including Doha Debates, Reach out To Asia and Al Jazeera
Children's Channel.

Joint venture partnerships in the areas of design, ICT,
telecommunications, policy studies and event management contribute to
fulfilling the objectives of the Qatar Foundation. For more information,
please visit: www.qf.org.qa

    For further information, please contact :
    Emilie Demange, Tel: +33(0)1-47-42-19-54
    Constance Lozet +33(0)1-47-42-92-78
    Email : wisepr@fleishman.com

For further information, please contact : Emilie Demange, Tel: +33(0)1-47-42-19-54, Constance Lozet +33(0)1-47-42-92-78, Email : wisepr at fleishman.com