Arleen Cannata Seed was recruited to the World Bank after having spent nearly 10 years working in Africa, as the Regional ICT Officer for UNICEF’s Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office, based in Nairobi. There she led the organization’s transition from telex and typewriter technology to electronic mail, LANs and knowledge databases. She undertook a special assignment in Rwanda, from July through December 1994, to help reopen the UNICEF Office in Kigali right after the genocide and establish computing and telecommunications facilities. Prior to her posting in Africa, Arleen had been stationed in UNICEF’s HQ in New York, where she designed and implemented UNICEF’s first email system in the mid-1980s and traveled to 55 countries throughout the world to introduce technology, train staff and contribute to development.
Arleen served as the World Bank’s the Regional IT Officer for South Asia from 1999 to 2002, where she was responsible for the internal IT support for five countries: India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. She was then part of the group which initially formed the Informatics Advisory Service, which later became CITPO. She designed and implemented the eRwanda project and the eGovernment components of the RCIP Africa projects, as well as being the TTL for the Rwanda Development Gateway Group. Before returning to the ICT unit one year ago, Arleen was the Senior Service Lead for Information Technology Solutions Knowledge and Information Unit, organizing information management, libraries and archives for the World Bank. She also supported numerous operational projects, providing eGovernment technical assistance to the governments of Rwanda, Swaziland, Tanzania, Kenya, Congo-Brazza, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Madagascar, Tunisia, Bangladesh, Mexico, Mozambique, and Guinea.
A New York City native, Arleen possesses an MS in Management Information Systems from Columbia University in the City of New York and is a frequent speaker and writer on the topic of ICT for Development.
Arleen served as the World Bank’s the Regional IT Officer for South Asia from 1999 to 2002, where she was responsible for the internal IT support for five countries: India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. She was then part of the group which initially formed the Informatics Advisory Service, which later became CITPO. She designed and implemented the eRwanda project and the eGovernment components of the RCIP Africa projects, as well as being the TTL for the Rwanda Development Gateway Group. Before returning to the ICT unit one year ago, Arleen was the Senior Service Lead for Information Technology Solutions Knowledge and Information Unit, organizing information management, libraries and archives for the World Bank. She also supported numerous operational projects, providing eGovernment technical assistance to the governments of Rwanda, Swaziland, Tanzania, Kenya, Congo-Brazza, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Madagascar, Tunisia, Bangladesh, Mexico, Mozambique, and Guinea.
A New York City native, Arleen possesses an MS in Management Information Systems from Columbia University in the City of New York and is a frequent speaker and writer on the topic of ICT for Development.