ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL HEARS FURTHER DEBATE ON TRANSFER OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL HEARS FURTHER DEBATE ON TRANSFER

OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 3 July (UN Information Service) -- The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) this morning continued its discussion of policies and activities for aiding the transfer of information and communication technology to developing countries, with a series of speakers contending that the "digital divide" between rich and poor nations was widening and that more had to be done to ensure such transfer if States were to avoid being marginalized from the globalized economy.

National representatives speaking from the floor also said private-sector partnership arrangements between the United Nations and national governments in the field held promise for kick-starting technology transfer capacities, but that such arrangements should be designed carefully to ensure that the benefits of such transfer were broad-based and helped populations at large.

A representative of Venezuela told the Council that training and education in the transfer of information and communications technology were vital; that expanding financial resources for investment and infrastructure were important; and that it was necessary to start working in these directions immediately.  Otherwise, the enormous technological gap that now separated the rich and poor countries of the world would continue to widen.

The debate marked a continuation of the Council's coordination segment, a feature of its annual four-week substantive session.

Providing statements at the morning meeting were representatives of the United States, China, Switzerland, Venezuela, Fiji, Indonesia, South Africa, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Statements

JOHN DAVISON (United States) said his country believed that information and communication technologies were among the most potent forces in shaping the twenty-first century.  Their revolutionary impact affected the way people lived, learned and the way governments interacted with civil society.  Their transfer was a vital engine of growth for the world economy.  It was also enabling many enterprising individuals, firms and communities, in all parts of the globe, to address economic and social challenges with greater efficiency and imagination.  The United States further believed that enormous opportunities were there to be seized, with benefits to be shared by all.  It also understood the potential

benefits of such transfer in spurring competition, promoting enhanced productivity, and creating and sustaining economic growth and jobs.

Recognizing the need to promote digital opportunity and inclusion, the United States Government had embarked on several efforts, both internationally and domestically, to help meet those challenges.  The United States Federal Communications Commission had launched a "Development Initiatives" programme to provide assistance with telecommunications policy and regulation to emerging economics, acknowledging that an appropriate regulatory framework was integral to fostering competition.  Bridging the digital divide encompassed much more than just technology, which was the reason that the United Nations had such an important role to play.

ZHANG XIAOAN (China) said the rapid development of technology and knowledge, especially information and communication technology, had contributed to rapid globalization and advanced global productivity.  It was the key to the elimination of poverty and to enhancing economic development in developing countries.  However, pre-eminence in the field rested largely with industrialized countries, and the digital divide was growing wider.  China called on the developed countries to take steps and to show the political will to create a favourable environment in developing countries for the enhancement of information technology transfer.  They should also aid capacity-building in those countries and increase training and knowledge transfer in the field.  Financial flows to developing countries should be increased, including through greater official development assistance (ODA), to enable those countries to close the gap in communication technologies competence.

Developing countries must be able to seize to the greatest extent possible the positive opportunities posed by the information technology revolution, and the United Nations should be at the forefront of efforts to that end.  China also supported efforts to involve the private sector in the process, in appropriate ways.  But the role and limitations of the participation of the private sector should be carefully discussed and understood, and the part to be played by the private sector should not be exaggerated.

FRANCOIS NORDMANN, of Switzerland, said his country believed in the important role played by the United Nations in the promotion and coordination of the initiatives pertaining to information and communication technologies for the purpose of fighting poverty, as well as the promotion of partnership in that area.  A year ago, the high-level segment of the ECOSOC meeting in New York had been devoted to the theme of information and communication technologies.  Since then, important efforts had been undertaken and several initiatives had also been launched in order to challenge the problem of the "digital divide" and to exploit the potential of that new instrument in favour of sustainable development.  Switzerland would continue to put its knowledge at the disposal of those countries and organizations in need of it, including the private sector.

On 28 June, the Council of the International Telecommunication Union had approved the holding of the first phase of its Summit in Geneva in December 2003.  Switzerland would contribute to the effort in the organization of the Summit, including in the preparatory process.

OSCAR HERNANDEZ (Venezuela) said the United Nations so far had done well in assisting developing countries to set up networks and build infrastructure and capacity in the information and communication technology.  The United Nations task force on the subject deserved support.  Efforts intended to improve information and communication technology capacities should be aimed at the local level, and at individuals.

Training and education were vital; financial resources for investment, connections and so on were also important; it was necessary to start working in that direction immediately or the enormous technological gap that now separated the rich and poor countries of the world would continue to widen.  The developed world should show its commitment by granting favourable terms of trade and opening up its markets to the South, and by increasing financial flows on favourable terms.

AMENATAVE V. YAUVOLI (Fiji) said that the report of the Secretary-General would provide an important contribution to the development and promotion of information and communication technology.  Fiji had to face the reality of globalization which was a challenge to its economy.  With its limited resources, Fiji had been endeavouring to undertake measures to strengthen its national capabilities to adapt to new technologies.  The people's access to such technologies as the Internet was limited because of the country's inadequate resources and lack of "know-how" to adapt to the new technologies.  In addition, the Government was making efforts to face the new problems arising from the impact of globalization.

SALMAN AL-FARISI (Indonesia) said that if a viable strategy was not implemented, the benefits of the powerful forces of information and communication technology would bypass the majority of countries, risking their marginalization from the mainstream global economy and the creation of an unstable digital divide.  The developing countries already had missed out on the industrial revolution; they should not miss out on this new revolution.  The extensive activities of the United Nations to promote communication technology development were welcome, but if sustainable development was to be secured, the United Nations had to find a better way to spur access to knowledge of such technology for developing countries.  There were numerous obstacles to be faced, including lack of infrastructure, funding, and human and institutional capacities.

One option that needed to be pursued was the involvement of civil society, particularly the private sector.  The major challenge would be to develop business modalities that would effectively reflect both the universal values of the United Nations and the need to realize profits and shareholder values for the private sector.  In meeting this challenge it was vital that the concerns of the developing countries be taken fully into account.

J. NDHLOVU (South Africa) said that the urgent challenge that faced the international community today was to find ways to harness information and communication technology so as to bridge the social and economic gaps that divided the world and to halt the marginalization of the developing world, especially Africa, from the global economy.  The Millennium Declaration should remain a point of reference in the international community's endeavours towards the achievements of its development targets.  For many developing countries like South Africa, access to and transfer of knowledge and technology were pivotal in seeking to address their pressing development needs such as education and training, agriculture, environment and the health challenge, especially communicable disease, in particular HIV/AIDS.  In addition, high levels of unemployment and the almost total exclusion of women from the formal sector of the economies of many countries put an added dimension to the importance of small and medium-sized enterprises that were targeted at those sectors of the population.

South Africa believed that the attainment of sustainable development remained a daunting challenge for the developing world, especially for Africa.  It was the hope of South Africa that the collective effort of the United Nations system and relevant stakeholders in the area of communications technology would contribute significantly to other efforts at national, regional and international levels, aimed at the attainment of the Millennium Summit development goals.

ELIZABETH MERZ, from the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), said the Organization had provided two conference room papers describing very practical field-level approaches that it was taking.  The first described a UNIDO programme dealing with trans-sectoral methods and approaches related to technology transfer cycles, management of technology and innovations, the legal issues related to technology transfer, the negotiation process, and other topics.  The programme also provided a range of capacity-building services aimed at enhancing micro-economic efficiency and creating competitive enterprise advantages, in particular through the promotion of quality management systems and the improvement of technology management capabilities.

She said UNIDO's approach to information technologies was to build national capacities, to assist firms to overcome barriers, in order to improve their productivity and market positions, as described in the second conference room paper.

PHILIPPE QUEAU, from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), stressed that access to knowledge and to the media and genuine participation in the knowledge society was impeded for the greater part of humanity by a variety of obstacles, which included the inappropriate infrastructure of telecommunications and mass dissemination facilities; insufficient financial resources; and persistent illiteracy, among other things.  Beyond the technological aspects, the real challenge was to take account of the human dimension of the digital divide.  In that respect, education constituted a priority objective because there could be no information for all without education for all.  Access to information and the management of knowledge and contents were a major focus for action by UNESCO.

He said the role of UNESCO was to foster international intellectual cooperation and to mobilize world public opinion and all its partners for the promotion and defence of the freedom of expression and the right to information, which was closely linked to the right to education.  To that end, UNESCO fostered the formulation of universally recognized principles and common ethnical standards related to the use of information and communications technology.

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