“High-Tech” Youth To Meet in Costa Rica

A group of students with innate technologicalabilities will meet in Costa Ricanext week for the first Power Users ofInformation and CommunicationTechnologies International Symposium.Sixty young people ages 12-18 fromAustralia, the United States and variouscountries in Europe, Asia and LatinAmerica will meet for the symposium,scheduled to take place in San José Aug.8-10.According to a statement from theUniversidad Nacional (UNA), a co-organizerof the event, the conference targetstechnology-savvy young people known as“power users” or “high-tech youth.”“When a new technology reaches theirhands, they (the high-tech youth) areusing it before adults have finished readingthe instructions,” the statement said.The Education Development Center inthe United States, the United NationsFund for International Partnerships andUNA’s International Center for EconomicPolitics are collaborating in organizing theevent.Its objective is to “promote a space forthese young people to exchange knowledgeand skills in the use of modern technology,but moreover, to reflect on howtheir abilities could be of use to reach theU.N. development goals for the millennium,”according to the UNA statement.“This is a unique opportunity forexchange among talented young peoplewho have incorporated the use of moderntechnology into their daily lives from anearly age,” said Joyce Malyn-Smith, fromthe Education Development Center.The symposium will include the participationof researchers interested in thisnew generation of high-tech youth.