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Tribal economic development conference underway
Tuesday, February 8, 2005

The Reservation Economic Summit (RES) 2005 kicked off in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Monday. It runs through Thursday.

Sponsored by the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development, the summit focuses on improving Indian Country's access to communications. "Communications and IT systems can overcome the barriers of geographic isolation and connect remote Native American communities to the land of opportunity through e-business, e-government, telemedicine, distance learning and fast public safety response," said NCAIED' President and CEO, Ken Robbins.

Tribal leaders, government officials and industry representatives will meet all week to discuss how to bring technology to the reservation. ""If we want to see major improvements in the quality of life on our reservations, we must embrace the opportunities that advanced communications offer to our people," said A. Brian Wallace, chairman of the Washoe Tribe.

The final day includes a session with Tex Hall, president of the National Congress of American Indians, on technology success stories. "Tribal leaders to commit their energy, their imagination, and their resources to building the bridge across the digital divide," he said. "These are the pathfinders of Indian Country."

Dave Anderson is making make his last public appearance as assistant secretary at the conference on Thursday. He will be on hand to announce a cooperative initiative with the General Services Administration that will allow tribes to use E-Buy, the government's online procurement system for products and services.

"E-Buy is an important e-commerce tool for the Federal government to buy products and services efficiently and cost effectively," Anderson said yesterday. "This initiative will help improve e-commerce in Indian country by providing tribal governments the same opportunity to meet their service and supply needs online while making the most of their procurement dollars."