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Digital Divide

Last Updated: 
July 07, 2006   
©2006 Robert J. Beck. 
All rights reserved. 
rjbeck AT uwm DOT edu

Portal Sites and Tools | Organizations
Documents  |  US Government

Portal Sites and Tools

Activity Information Management System 
Global Knowledge Partnership 
http://www.bellanet.org/gkaims/
The Global Knowledge Partnership's "Activity Information Management System" is an extensive repository of organization and project profiles, documents pertaining to ICT and development, and information on upcoming events.

Globalization Bytes
PowerPoint presentation on the "Technological Revolution and the Global Digital Divide" by Dr. Robert J. Beck at 2001 Global Studies Summer Institute, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

Interactive Map: The Geography of Technological Innovation and Achievement
http://www.undp.org/hdr2001/popupmap.html
Valuable tool offered in UNDP Human Development Report 2001, "Making New Technologies Work For Human Development"

Internet World Stats
http://www.internetworldstats.com/index.html
An International website featuring up to date 2005 worldwide Internet Usage, the Population Statistics and the Area Data, for over 233 countries and world regions.  Includes statistics for Top Internet Penetrated Countries:  http://www.internetworldstats.com/top10.htm

QuickLinks Index - "Digital Divide" 
Edited by Richard Swetenham, European Commission Directorate General XIII
http://www.qlinks.net/quicklinks/divide.htm 
Quicklinks provides links to news items about legal and regulatory aspects of Internet and the information society, particularly those relating to information content, and market and technology. It consists of a free electronic mail newsletter and a Web site that includes news items organized by category such as "Digital Divide." 

"Virtual Villages:  Technology and the Developing World"
http://fyi.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/virtualvillages
A companion site to the CNN program.  Features essays and reference, including statistics.

Organizations

Bridges.org
http://www.bridges.org/index.html
With offices in Washington, DC, and Cape Town, South Africa, Bridges.org seeks to help people in developing countries use technology to improve their lives. This international NGO approaches its mission by implementing discrete projects that, taken together, represent a comprehensive approach to the range of problems of the digital divide.

Digital Divide Network 
http://www.digitaldivide.net./
The Benton Foundation and the National Urban League, with private foundations and companies from across the Internet, computing, telecommunications and software industries have launched The Digital Divide Network, arguably "the first-ever initiative to coordinate information, strategies and efforts targeting solutions to the Digital Divide." The new site is a comprehensive clearinghouse on completed and ongoing efforts to expand access by underserved communities to the Internet and information technology.

Digital Dividend 
http://www.digitaldividend.org/ 
http://www.wri.org/ 
A project of the World Resources Institute, an environmental think tank, the "Digital Dividend" advocates "a business approach to closing the global digital divide."

The Digital Opportunity Initiative (DOI)
http://www.opt-init.org/  
A public private partnership of Accenture, the Markle Foundation and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).  DOI was launched at the G-8 Okinawa Summit in 2000, with the aim of identifying the roles that information and communication technologies (ICT) can play in fostering sustainable economic development and enhancing social equity.

The Global Knowledge Partnership 
http://www.globalknowledge.org/ 
The Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP) is an evolving, informal partnership of public, private and not-for-profit organizations. Partner organizations are committed to sharing information, experiences and resources to promote broad access to, and effective use of, knowledge and information as tools of sustainable, equitable development. The GKP emerged from the cooperation of several dozen organizations in sponsoring the Global Knowledge 97 conference, "Knowledge for Development in the Information Age" in Toronto, Canada in June 1997. 

infoDev - The Information for Development Program 
http://www.infodev.org/ 
Created in 1995, infoDev is an international consortium of official bilateral and multilateral development agencies and other key partners, facilitated by an expert Secretariat housed at the World Bank. Its mission is to help developing countries and their partners in the international community use information and communication technologies (ICT) effectively and strategically as tools to combat poverty, promote sustainable economic growth, and empower individuals and communities to participate more fully and creatively in their societies and economies.


Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Task Force
http://www.unicttaskforce.org/
A multi-stakeholder initiative launched by the UN Secretary-General in 2001. In supporting the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in December 2003, the Task Force successfully helped in placing the United Nations development objectives at the heart of the Summit and mobilized the participation of the multi-stakeholder networks, organized a series of side events and launched new initiatives, including on education. This comprehensive portal site includes "Accessible Information on Development Activities" database.

Sustainable Development Networking Programme - UNDP
http://www.sdnp.undp.org/ 
Features a "Networking and Information Technology Observatory," documents collection, technical help desk, virtual help desk, and case studies. There are Sustainable Development Networking Programmes [SDNPs] in 40 developing countries now, up from the initial 12 country pilot projects in 1993. Each one encompasses making Information Technology [IT] more accessible, more usable and more understandable to civil society.

Documents

Creating a Development Dynamic
http://www.opt-init.org/framework.html  
Final Report of the Digital Opportunity Initiative, July 16, 2001.  Seeks to demonstrate the critical role that information and communication technologies (ICT) can play in helping developing countries to enhance the lives of their citizens.  The document lays out a strategy for developing nations to work with developed countries, and the private and non-profit sectors, to generate sustainable development and achieve a range of social goals. These include improvements to education, healthcare, and increased economic opportunity.

The Global Information Technology Report 2003-2004
http://www.infodev.org/files/1065_file_GITR2003.pdf 
Since it was launched in 2001, the Global Information Technology Report has become a valuable and unique benchmarking tool to determine national ICT strengths and weaknesses, and to evaluate progress. It also highlights the continuing importance of ICT application and development for economic growth.  The Report uses the Networked Readiness Index (NRI), covering a total of 102 economies in 2003-2004, to measure "the degree of preparation of a nation or community to participate in and benefit from ICT developments".   

infoDev Publication Library
http://www.infodev.org/section/library

Practical Action
http://www.itdg.org/?id=technology_and_poverty
http://www.itdg.org/?id=technical_briefs
Practical Action, formerly known as the Intermediate Technology Development Group, is an international non-governmental organization that specializes in helping people to use technology for Practical Answers to Poverty.  Practical Action emphasizes technologies that are affordable, accessible and appropriate for poor people.  Its portal site features many documents of interest, including "Technology, Poverty and the future of the Developing World," a September 2001 "progressive response" to the UNDP Human Development Report, "Making new technologies work for human development."

Spanning the Digital Divide: Understanding and Tackling the Issues
http://www.bridges.org/spanning/report.html
Concludes that "ground level efforts and government policy are fundamental to changing the status quo and spread the benefits of ICT. Only with a concerted effort will the potential of ICT impacts on and improve people's quality of life, whether they are underprivileged or not."

UNDP Human Development Report 2001
"Making New Technologies Work For Human Development"
http://www.undp.org/hdr2001/
Released July 9, 2001, the UNDP's 2001 HDR argues that, while advances in information and communications technologies often bypass the world's poor, ICT has a potentially significant role in development. The report highlights examples of technology being used for political empowerment, distance learning, and job creation.