World Summit On The Information Society - The Digital Divide

The Digital Divide

Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations at the time, defined the information society as that through which "human capacity is expanded, built up, nourished and liberated, by giving people access to the tools and technologies they need, with the education and training to use them effectively." It is this kind of a society that the World Summit on the Information Society set about to create.

In November 2002, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan issued a Challenge to Silicon Valley to create nearly up-to-date computers and communications systems that would enable villages to afford Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D). Some examples from around the world were:

• the Simputer movement in India
• Pocket PC from Microsoft in Redmond, Washington, United States
• free metropolitan wireless systems
• the MIT Media Lab program to create a $100 laptop
• localization of Linux into languages not supported by commercial vendors

Yoshio Utsumi, Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union, declared that with the emergence of such a society comes the risk of widening the existing digital divide. The Holy See (Vatican) reaffirmed this position in its address to the summit members given by Archbishop John Foley. "This summit," he said, "is a unique opportunity to connect and assist those living in the poorest and most isolated regions of the world… f this process creates only new opportunities for those who already enjoy a good living standard and excellent communications possibilities, then our work will have been a failure."

On the issue of narrowing the digital divide, the Holy See and the whole of the United Nations stand hand-in-hand. It was the direct goal of the Summit to create a way to provide information to all people in every nation. A joint-effort needed to be made on behalf of the entire international community to assist in providing access to digital communications to those citizens of less developed regions so that they might also share in the bounty of information available through digital mediums. "For far too many people, the gains remain out of reach," Annan said. "There is a tremendous yearning, not for technology per se, but for what technology can make possible." Annan continued by urging the Summit members to respond to that thirst and to make the necessary preparations and take the first steps towards the accomplishment of a society where all people have equal access to information. Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, president of the Republic of Tunisia, also called on the international community to aid in the efforts of helping all peoples, "particularly the least developed ones, to gain access to technological progress and to benefit from the scientific and digital revolution witnessed in the world today." The Vatican also reaffirmed the need for help from the international community.

Secretary General Utsumi said that in order to bring about the changes recommended, and new "pact" will need to be achieved between the information "haves" and the "have-nots." The development of a new arrangement between developed and under-developed nations would not, he said, "obey the normal rules of negotiation of give and take" but would, instead, be based on mutual self-interest. "The value of information," Utsumi said, "increases when it is shared. If we are able to create a new generation in the developing world, it will be to the benefit of information-producing countries."

The overall intent of the World Summit on the Information Society was to bring about a feasible way to eliminate the ever-gaping digital divide. Members of the international community have recognized that an end to the divide must be sought in order to bring about equal information opportunities to the citizens of the less developed countries. Archbishop Foley ended his statement by stating, "It is our responsibility to fill these gaps of humanity and solidarity for the benefit of millions of people and for the next generation." It is the responsibility of the countries of the international community to implement plans they made at the Summit to make information more accessible to all nations.