"Building bridges" is a metaphor often used to describe activities of the United Nations system. The most recent construction process aims to overcome the digital divide between developing and developed countries. At the same time, it seeks to appropriate information technologies as a tool for development.

UN Photo

Concluding the High-Level Segment of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in early July 2000, delegates agreed upon a Ministerial Declaration that summed up the deliberations of a three-day session in New York.

Stressing "new vast opportunities for economic growth and social development", the Council said there was also a need to address major obstacles to increased participation of developing countries in information and communication technology (ICT). In the exhaustive Declaration, such obstacles are identified: the lack of adequate telecommunications infrastructure, a shortage of training and literacy, and the lack of investment. At the same time, the delegates acknowledged that the promotion of communication technology cannot be a substitute for the traditional efforts to trigger development and modernization; instead, they should complement and enhance them.

Apart from the Ministerial Declaration, the most palpable outcome of the High-Level Segment are some first steps taken towards the creation of a task force for global ICT expansion. The UN Working Group on Informatics -- an ECOSOC sub-body that recently coordinated a global campaign against the Y2K computer bug -- was put in charge of preparing the groundwork for this task force. In line with the ideals of innovative governance, it will bring together stakeholders from public authority, international and non-governmental organizations, and the private sector to facilitate the expansion of ICT in developing countries.

Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette and ECOSOC President Makarim Wibisono of Indonesia at the ICT Forum.

The High-Level Segment was historic for several reasons, according to Council President Makarim Wibisono of Indonesia. It was the first time that anyone at the level of head of State had attended an ECOSOC high-level segment. Joining in were a number of heads of international agencies, including the International Telecommuncation Union and the World Trade Organization. It was also a first for representatives of the private sector to take part in the deliberations.

During the three days of statements, presentations and panel discussions, a general consensus developed that is mirrored in the eventual outcome document. Olli-Pekka Heinonen, Minister for Transport and Communications of Finland, brought together the main challenges for developing countries in terms of "the three C's": connectivity, capabilities and content.

Connectivity. While the major urban areas in developing countries around the world are expected to be eventually linked by the private sector, if an appropriate regulatory framework is provided, the poorer rural areas face bigger problems.

UN Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette argued that "poverty and the costs of connecting remote and under-populated areas mean we cannot rely only on market forces". Especially in these areas, connecting people does not necessarily mean that every individual has a linked computer in his bedroom. Following a strategy laid out by a Panel of Experts, the goal is to widely install public community access points. Around the world, they have come into being under different names -- village-telecentres, telecabinas, cyber-kiosks, cyber-cafés -- and they give Internet access to people who cannot afford to buy a computer, who may well not have phone connections and often lack electricity in the first place. Under this concept of group access, the Panel's challenge to connect the world by 2004 seems to be at least remotely realistic.

Capabilities. Apart from installing the necessary hardware and software, the skills to operate and maintain computers are a second crucial necessity. Being capable of usefully employing a computer requires the ability to read. And illiteracy is still widespread in many parts of the world.

But computers are not just operated, they have to be set up and maintained. This requires far more specialized skills, which nowadays even the highly developed countries sometimes run short of. At the current stage of technical development however, computers do need permanent attention, especially if they have multiple users. To overcome this shortage of skilled labour, Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in his recent Millennium Report, proposed the creation of a corps of ICT-savvy volunteers called the United Nations Information Technology Service (UNITeS) [www.unites.org]. Although this programme alone will hardly be sufficient to solve all problems, it will be able to take advantage of many young skilled people's determination to become involved in international affairs. In her speech at the High-Level Segment, Ms. Fréchette emphasized that such programmes should not be limited to North-South transfers. "India, for example, has much to teach others about how it is bridging the digital gap", she said.

Content. Without adequate content available, both connectivity and capability are worth little. Delegates from many countries stressed the need for local content on the Internet. Most obviously, this includes the challenging question of language: over 80 per cent of Internet content is in English -- a language only a quarter of the world population understands.

Local content will also help overcome cultural concerns and problems. Speaking on behalf of the Group of 77, Ebitimi Banigo, Minister of Science and Technology of Nigeria, said that adequate content is needed "to preserve the culture of the local people". His counterpart from Cuba, Minister of Communications and Technology Iganicio Rodríguez Plana, warned of a "new means of colonizing our countries". Developing local content can help preserve and disseminate "the social, linguistic and cultural heritage of a people or locality", Mr. Annan stressed in his report.

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