The President of Israel and the Founder of Wikipedia will Discuss the Role of High-Tech in the ‘Knowledge Revolution’ at the 3rd Philanthropic Round Table Organised by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation in Davos

On Thursday, January 28, 2010, the Victor Pinchuk Foundation will host the 3rd, Philanthropic Round Table in Davos (Switzerland), entitled ‘Hi-Teach=High-Tech+Philanthropy+Education’. This is one of the largest specialised events on the subject of philanthropy and is traditionally held during the World Economic Forum in Davos.

The participants of the 3rd Round Table organized by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation include:

• Shimon Peres, President of the State of Israel;
• Melinda French Gates, co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation;
• Jimmy D. Wales, founder of Wikipedia;
• Nicholas Negroponte, founder of the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) non-profit association;
• Shelly Esque, President of Intel Foundation;
• John Edward Sexton, President of New York University, who will moderate the debates.
• Victor Pinchuk, public figure and philanthropist, organizer of the event.

Through the framework of the round table, the Foundation initiates international discussions on the ways of development of education in the 21st century, and raises topical issues on how new technologies may improve access to education for everybody, regardless of his/her place of living or social status; how philanthropists may take advantage of new opportunities emerging in the field of education; what specific projects out of those existing today will be able to demonstrate the ‘Hi-Teach’ of the future.

The Victor Pinchuk Foundation considers that education and free spreading of knowledge are the key factors for the development of the mankind and improvement of the quality of life, and believes that new technologies will be able to revolutionise education. For centuries, philanthropy has been proving the efficacy of its efforts in the education field. And these are the very philanthropists that may become the driving force in the 21st century for the revolution of knowledge, showing to the states and to the global institutions the potentially unlimited powers of the synergy of high technologies and education.

A new and promising niche opens for philanthropists within the revolution in information and communications technologies (ICT). Multimedia in the Internet, telecommunications, social networks, Web 2.0 and many other innovations in the ICT dramatically change the ways of getting information, communication, education and knowledge exchange.

More than 400 people have signed in for participation in the 3rd Philanthropic Round Table, including the World economic Forum participants, representatives of business, philanthropic and non-profit organisations and media.

Representatives of Ukraine will also be among the participants of the round table, including Sviatoslav Vakarchuk, musician and founder of the People of the Future philanthropic foundation; Vitaliy Klitchko, public figure and sportsman; Igor Litovchenko, President of Kyivstar; Dmytro Shimkiv, Director General of Microsoft Ukraine; Natalie Jaresko, Co-managing Partner of Horizon Capital, WNISEF President and CEO and others.

The general partner of the 3rd Philanthropic Round Table:
Western NIS Enterprise Fund

Partners of the 3rd Philanthropic Round Table:
Kyivstar
Microsoft