2007年VOA标准英语-African Countries Team Up in Effort to Boost Te

By Naomi Schwarz
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
08 June 2007

The Microsoft corporation is teaming up with African leaders to try to bring development to the continent through technology. As part of the partnership¹ officials are holding a three-day technology forum² in Burkina Faso, which brings together government donors³ and experts from across Africa to share their knowledge in the technology sector⁴. For VOA, Naomi Schwarz reports from the conference in Burkina Faso's capital, Ouagadougou.

At a recent EU meeting, officials concluded that if all African nations were united as one country, it would be the 12th most technologically⁵ advanced nation in the world.

But the continent faces many challenges in exchanging knowledge in information and communication technology. That is why Microsoft has teamed up with the African Development bank and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa to bring together African leaders, technology workers, and aid agencies in a forum to share these innovations.

Cheikh Diarra, Microsoft's chairman in Africa, said bringing these countries together offers social and economic opportunities to Africans.

"We came to the conclusion that the best way to accelerate the development of this continent is to create this kind of forum where best practices can be shared and we can identify people who can help other countries replicate⁶ this kind of success story," he said.

Diarra says the idea came from a think tank organized by Burkina Faso's president, Blaise Compaore, whose government also collaborated⁷ in the organization of the forum.

In addition to Mr. Compaore, the presidents of Benin, Thomas Boni Yayi, and Congo-Brazzaville, Denis Sassou-Nguesso, said information technology is key to attaining⁸ a better future for Africa's underdeveloped countries.

Burkina Faso's President Blaise Compaore with other notables at the conference, 08 Jun 2007

Speaking to reporters after the opening speeches, Mr. Yayi said African countries need to share expertise⁹ in order to catch up to developed countries in the technology sector.

"We cannot do anything without this sector," he said. "It is very important to harmonize all the practices of our countries and in so doing we will be able now to face the challenges of this century."

The conference, the first of three to be held across Africa, focused on high tech strategies for government, called e-government, such as applying for an identity card over the Internet or monitoring election results by SMS.

Microsoft's Diarra said technology innovations like these are key to increased peace on the war-torn continent.

"This is, in my opinion, something that is going to bring about a lot of peace in the continent," he said. "Because a lot of countries get into trouble after elections. Today the technology is such that we can not only make sure that everybody who entitled to vote can vote, but that the votes are counted and there is no way to cheat about it."

He also said e-government could lead to more use of technology in other areas, such as health and education.

But many Africans have no access to telephone lines or electricity, let alone a computer or Internet connection. In addition to finding ways to increase literacy rates, African leaders and Microsft say one of the biggest challenges will be to ensure most people have access to and are able to use the advanced technology.

1 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

2 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

3 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

5 technologically   

ad.技术上地

参考例句：

• Shanghai is a technologically advanced city. 上海是中国的一个技术先进的城市。
• Many senior managers are technologically illiterate. 许多高级经理都对技术知之甚少。

6 replicate   

v.折叠，复制，模写；n.同样的样品；adj.转折的

参考例句：

• The DNA of chromatin must replicate before cell division.染色质DNA在细胞分裂之前必须复制。
• It is also easy to replicate,as the next subsection explains.就像下一个小节详细说明的那样，它还可以被轻易的复制。

7 collaborated   

合作( collaborate的过去式和过去分词 )； 勾结叛国

参考例句：

• We have collaborated on many projects over the years. 这些年来我们合作搞了许多项目。
• We have collaborated closely with the university on this project. 我们与大学在这个专案上紧密合作。

8 attaining   

（通常经过努力）实现( attain的现在分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况）

参考例句：

• Jim is halfway to attaining his pilot's licence. 吉姆就快要拿到飞行员执照了。
• By that time she was attaining to fifty. 那时她已快到五十岁了。

9 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。