Colloquium on “Advancing Towards a Literate Twenty-First Century” International Literacy Day Celebrations, UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France, 9 September 2013, by Professor Asha Kanwar, Commonwealth of Learning // As we know from the report of the World Illiteracy Foundation, the social and economic costs of illiteracy to the global economy are over a trillion dollars each year. What can be done to mitigate these costs? In which ways can technology help? It is clear that it cannot be business as usual and the global community needs to adopt alternative and innovative approaches to address the unfinished business of illiteracy.