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InfoSociety - Developing world hungers for information technology
(EurActiv (English))Brief News:The hero of theWorld Summit on the Information Society(WSIS) was notso muchKofi Annan - even though the UN Secretary General's warm wordsin favour of"[bringing the]costs of connectivity, computers and mobile telephones [...] down" went down well - but Nicholas Negroponte. The technological visionary, founder of the famousMedia Labat the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and of "One Laptop per Child" fascinated world leaders as well as tech enthusiasts with his project of spreading 100 US-Dollar, Linux-based, wind-up-powered, super-solid andfrog-greenlaptop computerswith wireless networking softwareto children all over the world, with the aim of giving everychild a portable computer by 2010. The governments of India, Brazil, Thailand, Nigeriaand Russia have already expressed their interest in purchasing the minimum order of 1 million computers, and as soon as 5 million are ordered, the computers are toenter into production.Mr. Negroponte says he hopes to see 100 million manufactured by 2007.
Both Mr. Annan and Mr. Negroponte addressed the issue which prevents the internet from being a truly global medium, in the horizontal as well as in the vertical meaning of the word -the so-calleddigital dividethat results in only three percent of Africans having access to the internet, while 43% have an internet connection at their homein Europe. While politics worldwide has little to offer to bridge the gap, technologyand industry seem to have taken the lead, even at a political event like the WSIS.Microsoftpresenteda new network of learning centers in Tunisia to train people to be teachers in technology. Microsoft International president Jean-Phillippe Courtois said the company would replicate the centers in other developing nations.
Other initiatives to bring the developing world online include computer projects like the Ndiyo Foundation'sNivocomputer, the made in IndiaAmida Simputerhandheld, theTIERhardware/software infrastructure as well as operating systems like Microsoft's Windows XPStarter Editionand theUbuntuLinux distribution sponsored by billionaire Mark Shuttleworth. Some analysts thinkmobile phone penetrationin Africa will outgrow all of these efforts.
Links:EU official documents
Information Society Commissioner Viviane Reding:La socit de linformation que nous voulons : le chemin est ouvert pour une approche multilatrale et transparente la gouvernance dInternet(Speech, Tunis, 16 November 2005)
DG Information Society:The International Dimension
DG Information Society:An International Perspective for a Global Information Society(Factsheet; November 2004)
International Organisations
International Telecommunication Union:Digital Access Index (DAI)
Industry federations and trade unions
Microsoft:Microsoft Highlights Broad Partnerships And Introduces New Technology Capacity-Building Initiatives at World Summit on The Information Society(16 November 2005)
Microsoft International (President Jean-Philippe Courtois): Speech to WSIS (16 November 2005; RealMedia Format) [FR]
NGOs and Think-Tanks
Berkeley University:Technology and Infrastructure for Emerging Regions (TIER)
Lee Felsenstein:OK, wise guy...(19 November 2005)
Press articles
Angola Press:Annan urges WSIS summit to find solutions to digital divide
BBC:Preserving the essence of the net(18 November 2005)
Financial Times:Low-cost laptop aims to bridge worlds digital divide(16 November 2005)
The Guardian:Global reach(18 November 2005)
The Inquirer:No amount of hype makes MIT $100 PC a reality(21 November 2005)
International Herald Tribune:The End User: What laptop per child?(18 November 2005)
Itenr Press Service:This Cranked Up Computer Could Close a Gap(19 November 2005)
New Scientist:$100-laptop created for worlds poorest countries(17 November 2005)
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:Lime-green $100 laptops to ship early next year(21 November 2005)
UPI:Senegal calls for bridging digital divide(17 November 2005)
Wired:Computers That Kids Can Own(17 November 2005)
Wired:Negroponte: Laptop for Every Kid(Interview; 17 November 2005)
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