— ITU and
MIC Korea have formed a new partnership to help achieve the internationally
agreed upon goals of the first phase of the World Summit on the Information
Society (WSIS). Through an initial contribution of 540 000 CHF from the Korea
Agency for Digital Opportunity and Promotion (KADO), the project called the
Digital Bridges Initiative will provide tools to measure the gap in access
to information and communications technologies (ICTs) that exists between
developed and developing nations. This vast inequality in access to information
also referred to as "digital divide" threatens to slow the formation of a truly
global, inclusive information society.
The Digital Bridges Initiative will also provide policy and technical
expertise to close the digital divide, and a financial contribution towards the
second phase of WSIS. The first activity under this new Initiative will be a
workshop to be held in Busan, Korea (Rep. of) on 10 and 11 September.
While most people in the developing world still have no access to even simple
dial-up Internet access, broadband is flourishing in many economies, especially
in East Asia. The current digital divide in high-speed Internet connectivity is
a growing concern, but one where new technologies and policies can help, as
highlighted in the Plan of Action from the World Summit on the Information
Society (WSIS). To this end, new tools such as national and international
digital divide indices to identify digital gaps and policy insight to close them
are required.
It should be noted that there has been substantial improvement in access to
communication technology in the developing world during the past fifteen years
due to a combination of new mobile phone technologies and successful policy
implementation, which has helped reduce an immense telecommunications gap that
earlier was considered nearly insurmountable. For example, the gap for fixed
lines between developed and developing countries has shrunk from 14 times in
1992 to only 5 times ten years later. For mobile phones, it went from 30 times
more in 1992 to just 5 times in 2002. While the gap is generally shrinking, it
is still far too wide, particularly for the Internet.
By working together and combining expertise and resources, ITU and MIC can
collectively pursue a world where all can participate in and benefit from the
information society.
About ITU
