overview
- North America
- EU
- Australia
- Asia
- Third World
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third world
divides
This
page is under construction.
scope
At a global level the October 2000 conference in Seattle
(of course) of the Digital Dividend Organisation (DDO)
noted that there are more telephones in New York City than
in all of rural Asia, more internet accounts in London than
all of Africa. As much as 80% of the world's population
has never made a phone call. The net connects 100 million
computers, but that "represents less than 2% of the
world's population".
Some of UNESCO's 1996 figures, while problematical, are
suggestive of underlying differences:
| Indicator
|
SubSaharan
Africa |
North
America |
Latin
America |
| GNP/capita
(US$) |
518 |
18,158 |
1,533 |
| Adult
illiteracy (% of population) |
43.2 |
1.3 |
13.4 |
| Domestic
letters/capita pa |
6 |
380 |
16 |
| Newsprint
consumption kg/capita pa |
1.6 |
78.2 |
10.7 |
| Telecoms
lines/1000 capita |
14 |
424 |
108 |
| Mobile
phone subscribers/1000 capita |
2.1 |
97.8 |
15.3 |
| Radios/1000
capita |
166 |
1005 |
384 |
| Televisions/1000
capita |
35 |
524 |
223 |
| PCs/1000
capita |
0.9 |
156.3 |
15.7 |
Since its establishment the Dotforce has held meetings to
identify the nature and scope of the divide and (as at March
2001) to determine priorities for action. Its first action
plan, initially scheduled for release in February 2001,
will appear later in the year. The probable emphasis will
be on encouraging IT skills in third world countries, requiring
telecommunication and information technology initiatives
as an integral part of development programs, and filling
in holes in existing international programs.
The US National Research Council's report Bridge Builders:
African Experiences with Information and Communication Technology,
(Washington, National Academy Press 96) is of value. Telecommunications
Politics: Ownership and Control of the Information Highway
in Developing Countries (Hillsdale, Erlbaum 95) edited
by Bella Mody & Johannes Bauer discusses infrastructure
investment challenges.
initiatives
Under development.
In contrast to the traditional focus on non-commercial connectivity
BusyInternet
is a US 'incubator' building telecentres in West Africa
that offer community net access (typically 100 computers),
a learning center for seminars and office space for net-related
businesses.
The Little Intelligent Communities (LINCOS)
initiative, developed by MIT and a Costa Rican institution,
takes a different track - providing shipping containers
that include "a computer science laboratory, a telemedicine
unit, a videoconference centre, an "information center
with electronic trade possibilities, and communitarian electronic
mail and newspaper".
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