Policy Statement
by
Mr. Horst Ehrnsperger,
Director General for Telecommunications and Postal Policy
Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology
Federal Republic of Germany
Tuesday, 19 March 2002
I deliver to you the greetings of Federal Minister Dr. Werner
Müller who wishes this third World Telecommunication Development Conference to
go well. To create equal opportunities in the Net world-wide is an important aim
for the German government. As I have the floor, I like to point out that there
are many reasons why information and communication technologies (ICT),
particularly the Internet, may potentially level the playing field allowing
nations with moderate levels of development to catch up with post-industrial
societies.
Potentially the effect of ICT in broadening and enhancing
access to information and communication may be greatest in less developed
nations, because once they passed the barriers of access, the technology offers
a relatively cheap and efficient service. In the global marketplace, small
businesses in Africa and South America can sell their products directly to
customers in Berlin, irrespective of the traditional barriers of distance, the
costs of advertising, and the intermediate distribution chains.
ICT also offers advantages in the delivery of basic services
like education and health information to remote regions, allowing a teacher or a
doctor in Damascus access to the same database information as one in Bonn.
Networks of hospitals and health care professionals can share medical expertise
and knowledge. Distance learning can widen access to training and education. In
all these regards, ICT promises to level the playing field and strengthen the
position of the developing world.
The global reach of the information society may also help to
integrate the concerns of developing countries in the international arena. By
connecting disparate movements, new coalitions can be formed mobilising global
civic society. A fact that has increased the leverage and networking capacity of
the women’ s movement, human rights activists, and environmentalists.
However, basic access to the networks is required before the
potential benefits of the information society can flow to all countries. The
global Digital Divide raises many issues for discussion that need to be explored
further. Will the disparities in information access gradually close over time,
as the new technology gradually diffuses throughout the world, like the spread
of radio? Or will this gap persist or expand? Recognising this danger,
international agencies have highlighted the need for inclusive strategies in the
dispersion of ICT.
UN Secretary General Kofi Anan warned of excluding the
world's poor from the information revolution in the connected world. "People
lack many things: jobs, shelter, food, health care and drinkable water. Today,
being cut off from basic telecommunications services is a hardship almost as
acute as these other deprivations, and may indeed reduce the chances of finding
remedies to them."
It is evident today that despite ICT's capacity for
development, without adequate action by government and the private sector, the
global information gap is likely to widen. In our strategies for development, we
need to consider how best to reduce information poverty, complimenting
traditional areas of concern such as efforts to improve health, nutrition and
literacy. Far from a luxury, access to information has become increasingly
essential for the effective delivery of services.
The challenge today is to maximise the potential benefits of
ICT world-wide, while the process of dispersion remains in transition, and
before new inequalities become rigidified. I therefore welcome that this World
Telecommunication Development Conference will focus on the theme of Bridging the
Digital Divide.
I trust that the Conference will contribute to innovative
solutions transforming the Digital Divide into Digital Opportunities bearing in
mind especially the needs of the least developed countries.
I wish this Conference a very successful and fruitful
outcome.
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