Tools to measure the digital divide

Johannesburg, 22 Jun 2004

A project known as the Digital Bridges Initiative has been developed by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and MIC Korea, with the aim of providing tools to measure the gap in access to technologies that exists between developed and developing nations.

MIC Korea and the ITU have formed this partnership to help achieve the internationally agreed upon goals of the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).

The Digital Bridges Initiative will also provide policy and technical expertise to close the digital divide, and a financial contribution towards the second phase of WSIS.

The first activity under this new initiative will be a workshop to be held in Busan, South Korea on 10 and 11 September.

While most people in the developing world still have no access to even simple dial-up Internet access, broadband is flourishing in many economies, especially in East Asia, which is why the current "digital divide" is a growing concern, threatening to slow the formation of a truly global, inclusive information society.

To this end, the new tools that will be provided by the Digital Bridges Initiative will include national and international digital divide indices, to identify digital gaps as well as the policy insight needed to close these gaps.

It has been noted by the ITU that there has been substantial improvement in access to communication technology in the developing world during the past fifteen years, due to a combination of new mobile phone technologies and successful policy implementation.

This has helped to reduce what was at one point an immense telecommunications gap that was considered nearly insurmountable.

The ITU states that the gap for fixed lines between developed and developing nations has shrunk from 14 times in 1992 to only five times 10 years later, while for mobile phones, it has gone from 30 times more in 1992 to just five times in 2002.

The organisation says although the gap is generally shrinking, it is still far too wide, particularly in terms of Internet access.

The ITU and MIC`s stated purpose in working together and combining expertise and resources, is "to collectively pursue a world where all can participate in and benefit from the information society".