UN Seeks to Bridge the Digital Divide

Industrialized countries, with about 15 percent of the world's population, make up nearly

90 percent of all Internet users. There are fewer than two million Internet users on the continent of Africa, compared with more than 12 million in

Britain. "The remarkable information technology advances have created vast new opportunities, yet they have also generated 'new divides' between rich and poor," UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said last week at a meeting of

information and broadcasting ministers in Bangkok.

The widening digital divide has led the UN to call the first-ever World Summit on the Information Society this December, bringing together political, private sector, civil

society and media leaders to spread the benefits of the digital revolution and promote "inclusive digitalization."

Source: Daily Nation