UNITED NATIONS CONTACTS G-8 ON INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY GAP

Press Release
ECOSOC/5920
PI/1263

UNITED NATIONS CONTACTS G-8 ON INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY GAP

NEW YORK, 21 July -- With concern about the global development gap and the plight of poor countries dominating the run-up to the Group of 8 Summit opening today in Okinawa, the United Nations is forwarding a ministerial declaration on the critical importance of closing the digital divide to Japanese Prime Minster Yoshiro Mori.

The Prime Minister of the Summit host country is asked by Makarim Wibisono, President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, to communicate to the other member countries the contents of a declaration approved on 7 July at a ministerial-level meeting of the Council.

The Declaration on the Role of Information Technology in the Context of a Knowledge-based Economy voices a consensus among developing and developed countries, as well as countries with economies in transition, that information and communication technology (ICT) is central to the new knowledge-based world economy, and plays a critical role in Aðaccelerating growth, in promoting sustainable development and eradicating poverty@ð.

But the statement also warns that the information technology revolution can very likely lead to Aðfurther widening disparities between and within countries@ð, and that Aðthe majority of the world population still lives in poverty and untouched by the ICT revolution@ð.

The Declaration, the end result of months of intergovernmental discussions and private-public sector interchanges, also outlines useful steps to be taken by countries, companies and multilateral agencies, and sets in motion steps for creating a global ICT task force linked to the United Nations system.

According to Economic and Social Council President Makarim Wibisono (the Indonesian Permanent Representative to the United Nations), it is expected that recommendations on the formulation of the task force