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“Broadband’s
particular promise is in its capacity to enable multiple applications over
a single network, and the related economic gains—meaning greater access
at lower cost.”
 The weaving together of digital networks and
information with the social networks of the twenty-first century has
implications for everyone. No matter how we choose to define the
“information society”, there are many unanswered questions about how,
and why, we should promote developments that give an increasingly central
place to the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in
our lives. Box 3 looks at some of the history of the information society
vision, and some of the initiatives taken to build it.
In industrialized countries and especially
developing countries, there is a pressing need to address the persistent
exclusion of people, in some geographical areas and social groups, who are
marginalized with regard to access to ICTs and the knowledge and skills to
use them (i.e. the “digital divide”). Technological innovation alone
is not enough to ensure a sustainable, growth-oriented information
society. It takes multi-stakeholder cooperation.
While broadband is only one among many
technologies present on the scene, its particular promise—viewed through
an information society “lens”—lies in two areas: First,
broadband’s capacity to enable multiple applications (voice
communications—for example using voice over broadband, Internet
applications, and television/video and audio applications) over a single
network. Second, the related economic gains, which also translate into
lower costs for consumers. With increased data transfer and speeds, as
well as the effects of competition among service providers; the tendency
is for prices to drop, bringing access to information closer to more of
the world’s population. As well as these particular features of
broadband, network security and ethical issues are among the topics
addressed in this part of the report, as are particular examples of how
broadband can help or pose risks to developed and developing societies in
the transition to a global information society.
In some contexts, wireless broadband may hold
particular promise. “Hotspots” (e.g. in airports, hotels, cafés) are
now being expanded to create whole urban areas with wireless coverage.
Although these initiatives are only in their incipient phases,
organizations such as the United Nations have begun to embrace the
potential that wireless technologies, such as Wireless LANs, may hold for
developing countries, where basic wireline infrastructures are often
lacking. As pointed out by the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, “it is
precisely in places where no infrastructure exists that Wi-Fi can be
particularly effective, helping countries to leapfrog generations of
telecommunications technology and infrastructure and empower their
people”.
As well as stand-alone initiatives though,
standardization efforts are essential to harmonize interfaces and
protocols between networks and to ensure network security. Governments and
industry are already actively involved in such standardization activities,
including through ITU. Coordination
of the radio frequency spectrum also requires strong international
cooperation, as does research and development (R&D), the cornerstone of future
technological development. In these and other areas, international
cooperation is an essential prerequisite to realize any kind of global
vision of the information society.
Box 3: From technological
innovation to a “knowledge-based society”
As
well as numerous initiatives to set out “visions” for the
information society, an emphasis on the need to foster
“knowledge-driven economies” to underpin inclusive information
societies began to gain currency in policy circles in the late 1990s.
The European Union set targets for becoming the most competitive and
dynamic knowledge-driven region in the world. In the United Kingdom, the
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) gave priority to building the
knowledge-driven economy in a White Paper published towards the end of
the decade. In the United States, there were strong hopes that
investment in “new economy” services would continue to boom and that
there would be substantial economic benefits from investment in digital
technologies. The World Bank’s 1998/99 Development Report made a
strong case for greater investment in knowledge as a means of tackling
poverty and a range of persistent development problems.
Discussions
about the growing importance of knowledge accumulation and absorption
were often accompanied by assertions about the impact of rapid
innovations in ICTs and of increasing investment in digital networks and
their applications. Many acknowledged that the new technological
“tools” could have both positive and negative social and economic
consequences. It was also recognized that there might not be a
straightforward relationship between investment in digital technologies
and services and positive gains for economies or social welfare.
Nevertheless, the mobilization of concerned stakeholders around the
problems posed by knowledge-driven growth continues to emphasize the
technical and economic features of these developments over the social
and cultural features.
The
rush to develop information society visions and knowledge-driven economy
strategies has not been limited to the industrialized countries. For
instance, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa developed
the Africa Information Society Initiative (AISI); Singapore developed
its “Intelligent Island” vision and others such as South Africa also
developed their own visions and strategies. In the “hope
department”, many experts have argued that ICTs would provide the
opportunity for the developing world to “leapfrog” over generations
of technology and catch-up with—or occasionally even surpass—wealthy
countries in the industrialized world. Just as the end of the dot.com
boom abruptly curtailed many utopian dreams, contemporary economic
realities have tempered idealism. More positively perhaps, visions are
now more inclusive of progressive patterns of technological development
and of local adaptation of ICTs into individual cultures.
The
creation of the G8 Digital Opportunities Task (DOT) Force and the
decision to hold a United Nations World Summit on the Information
Society (WSIS), under the leadership of ITU, are indicators of the
significance of these developments at the highest levels. Most
participants in these, and many related forums admit today that social
considerations are as important as the economic and technological
dynamics of emerging information societies.
More
information on the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), to be
held in two phases in Geneva in 2003, and in Tunis in 2005, can be found
at the website: http://www.itu.int/wsis. In addition
to full information on the Summit and its working documents, the site
also offers background resources; research papers; links to worldwide
information society initiatives, ICT success stories, interest groups
and organizations; press materials, and specialized documentation on
specific subject areas.
Source: Adapted
from “The nature of the information society: an industrialized world
perspective”, in Visions of the Information Society (ITU, 2003). More
information can be found at: http://www.itu.int/visions.
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