The Asia-Pacific Telecentre Network (APTN) is a collaborative initiative of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) and telecentre.org.

and to cooperate on the development of solutions for common problems of the telecentres themselves in order to empower poor and disadvantaged communities with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the Asia Pacific Region.

While many reasons could be attributed to this situation some of the significant causes are; inadequate exchange of experience related to ICT, weak linkages with stakeholders and low capacity of disadvantage communities in accessing and utilization of knowledge.

[9][10] It was a collaborative initiative of UNESCAP together with 18 founding members from 10 countries in the region and support of partners such as the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and telecentre.org.

[10] Therefore, on 7 February 2009, APTN Secretariat was set up by Secretary to the President of Sri Lanka and Chairman of UN-ESCAP's Committee on Information and Communication Technology, Mr. Lalith Weeratunga.

During the meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, it was reiterated that these access points or centres and networks were the direct means to reach marginalized and poor communities due to their proximity to the people and the areas that they serve.

Further APTN hopes to work with ICT access points/ networks which it can reach and bring opportunities for women to become entrepreneurs as well as catalysts for development and also the leadership role in the local community.

As recommended from a Bangkok, Thailand workshop, APTN will take steps to undertake the below mentioned activities with the intention of providing a better ICT services through the knowledge hubs and networks to empower the diverse communities in Asia Pacific region: