In the global information society, young people are often the leading innovators in the use and spread of information and communication technologies (ICTs). Increasingly, youth are adapting and using these technologies (including telephone, fax, radio, television, film, computers and the Internet) to meet local information and communication needs. But young people can remain an untapped resource if decision-makers do not integrate their knowledge, vision and experience.

Youth Creating Digital Opportunities (YCDO) was conceived in early 2002 as a framework youth strategy for the Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP). The strategy grew out of IISD's earlier work with the Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP) to engage young people in decision-making on the use of ICTs for sustainable development:

• In December 1999, IISD convened a GK Youth Advisory Council to assist the GKP in learning from the expertise of young professionals around the world who are using ICTs to produce, disseminate and use knowledge for sustainable development.

• From January to March 2000, the advisory committee facilitated the Youth: Building Knowledge Societies (YBKS) e-conference to collect information on youth perspectives on bridging the digital divide. The YAC presented its report at the Global Knowledge II Action Summit in March 2000.

• In March 2001, the Youth Advisory Council reconvened to update the YBKS report as an input to the G-8 Digital Opportunities Taskforce (DOT Force). The Youth DOTforce process highlighted the need for more active involvement of youth organizations and networks in intergovernmental dialogues on information and communication technologies.

With the momentum of the World Summit on the Information Society, YCDO grew to become a coalition of organizations dedicated to realizing the potential of young people as leaders in using ICTs to achieve more sustainable development in their communities and around the world. The Coalition was formally launched in February 2003 by the Digital Youth Consortium (DYC), Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP), the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and TakingITGlobal (TIG). It grew and evolved as additional organizations committed to improve the coordination and harmonization of efforts to:

• Ensure the meaningful participation of young people in ICT for development policy-making at the national, regional, and international levels

• Support the involvement of young people in ICT for development projects; and

• Promote continuous learning through facilitating the emergence of a global community of young people working on ICT for development policy and practice (a.k.a., YCDO Community).

In 2002-2003, the Coalition focused its efforts on efforts on engaging youth in the process of the World Summit on the Information Society, using that experience to catalyze the growth of a 1,400+ member online community of young people in ICT4D and their supporters.

Until 2004, IISD served as the overall YCDO Coalition Coordinator, providing support for Coalition governance; monitoring and evaluation; marketing/branding; fundraising for coalition management and steering committee functions; and ensuring the integration and cross-fertilization of ideas and leads between other members of the Coordination Team. In its role of Coalition Coordinator, IISD sought to ensure that gender considerations were fully integrated into all YCDO activities.

As of May 2004, the coordination of these activities was transferred to the GKP secretariat and its youth taskforce in order to take advantage of economies of scale in network coordination and fundraising, as well as to reground its vision within the GKP.