FOREWORD
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Advances in information
and communications technologies have given rise
to the multimedia and online phenomena that hold
great promise for productivity promotion and enhancement,
information dissemination, distance education,
and other applications. These two tools are now
recognized as not just an "add-on" but
a core element of organizational knowledge and
effectiveness. As a country's telecommunications
infrastructure improves and expands, as the personal
computer becomes affordable and easily available,
and as the Internet becomes more accessible, multimedia
and online technologies will make it possible
for information and knowledge to be accessed by
people everywhere, even those living in remote
areas. Despite this, their potential has yet to
be fully appreciated by many.
At this moment, in most APO member countries,
the dissemination of information on productivity
and ways to enhance it is still very much confined
to the large cities. This limits the impact of
a country's productivity drive. Now, with the
multimedia and online technologies at our disposal,
the boundaries of the productivity movement as
well as that of skill training and basic literacy
and numeracy education within a country could
be expanded to involve the participation of people,
institutions, and industries even in far-flung
places.
To provide insight into the application of multimedia
and online technologies in productivity promotion,
information dissemination, and training and learning,
the APO organized the seminar on "Multimedia
for Productivity Promotion and Enhancement with
Special Focus on e-Learning" in the Republic
of China, 25-29 March 2002. This publication is
a compendium of the resource papers and selected
country reports presented at the meeting. It is
a useful reference text for all those who are
involved in productivity promotion or e-learning
as administrators, providers, or end-users.
I would like to thank the Government of the Republic
of China for hosting the seminar; the China Productivity
Center for imple-menting the program; the resource
persons for their valuable contri-butions; and
Mr. Graeme Dobbs for editing the publication.
– TAKASHI TAJIMA, Secretary-General,
Tokyo, March 2003
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