Having a busy summer, X/Open Co Ltd has cut a prestigious five-year deal with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, Unitar, to promote the use of modern information systems in developing and recovering countries. Under the programme, Unitar and X/Open will organise a series of three-day symposia with hands-on technology training tailored for local and regional needs. Unitar will invite the delegates from the government agencies and commercial entities in each country. The idea is to get Western high technology companies to sponsor the events, and X/Open is about to embark on a 90-day roadshow to drum up industry support. It says the symposia will provide firms with badly-needed frontiers into the territories where the gatherings are to be held. How many of the fora are eventually scheduled depends on the level of sponsorship, but the first is already planned for recovering East European countries which takes place in Budapest in the second quarter of 1993. Other confirmed venues are Santiago (for South American countries) in the third quarter and Cairo (for North Africa and the Middle East) in the fourth quarter. According to the agreement, there are to be four events a year, each with a minimum 150 participants. The United Nations has already passed resolutions calling for the acceleration of technology transfer to developing countries and X/Open’s chief operating officer, George Shaffner says UN country ambassadors are now jockeying for rights to host a symposium. X/Open is in separate discussions with the UN over the organisation’s internal use of open systems, and there is speculation that X/Open’s involvement with the UN might eventually see X/Open president Geoff Morris being elected to the UN’s advisory board. Before this could happen X/Open would have to establish a formal relationship with the UN after meeting initial requirements, such as proving – to the UN’s satisfaction – its status as as a non-governmental, not-for-profit organisation. After being measured against a second string of acceptability criteria – and assuming that the UN takes to Morris and that a seat on the board becomes available – there would be a ballot, although no movement on this front is expected until next year.
