The Shanghai IT commission has earned an award from the United Nations for improved IT infrastructure and smart IT applications developed by the municipal government.

UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Sha Zukang gave the UNPAN Knowledge Management Award to Fu Wenbiao, director of the Shanghai Municipal Informatization Commission, during the Forum on City Informatization in the Asia-Pacific Region, which was held in Shanghai yesterday.

The award represented the city's smart IT infrastructure, Qian Xiaoyan, chief manager of UNPAN (United Nations Public Administration Network), said during the forum. Sha also defined Shanghai as one of the most adventurous cities in the ICT (information, communication and technology) sector.

"The improvement of the ICT infrastructure influences every sector from macro to the micro, including economy and productivity growth," Sha told the forum.

ICT has been adopted by cities worldwide in medical, transportation and even philosophy sectors to make urban life better, according to Leo Merores, president of the UN Economic and Social Council.

In Shanghai, ICT became the No.1 pillar for industry for four years and it contributed 14 percent to the city's total GDP, according to Yang Xiong, Shanghai's executive vice mayor.

Half of Shanghai families have been able to access broadband Internet and about one million middle-aged or aged people have been trained to use computers.

Meanwhile, the city is upgrading data-sharing networks across the city. The city's international fiber optic capacity accounts for 70 percent of the national level.

A new undersea cable connecting China and United States, which connects to Shanghai, will be constructed and is expected to lift the Sino-US communications capacity by 160 times, according to Yang.

All speakers at the forum expressed their condolences to victims of the earthquake in Sichuan Province.

(Shanghai Daily May 27, 2008)