UNITED NATIONS DAY OF DIALOGUE WITH SILICON VALLEY PINPOINTS

LOW-COST INTERNET AS NEXT STEP IN CLOSING DIGITAL DIVIDE

 

(Received from a UN Information Officer.)

MOUNTAIN VIEW, UNITED STATES, 28 February -- Bringing down costs of Internet access could set off the same wave of connectivity that has made mobile phone usage commonplace in developing countries, was a repeated theme as innovators and corporate leaders from some of the world’s leading technology firms met in northern California with Government leaders, activists and United Nations officials.

In 2004 alone, Africa has added some 15 million new mobile phone subscribers, and such subscriptions have more than doubled since 1999, according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).  Telecom deregulation and skyrocketing cell phone use in Nigeria, for instance, have produced “spin-offs of spirituality and spin-offs of profit” in that country, Titi Akinsanmi of SchoolnetAfrica Project told the meeting of the United Nations Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies for Development.  She clarified that subscribers are devising value-added information services that meet social and religious needs.

But making available low-cost computers and cheap Internet depends on a complex chain of on-the-ground realities, of which technological innovation is only one component, Intel Corporation Chairman Craig Barrett pointed out.  Among these are strong connection to international Internet, domestic connections and service providers, and content in local languages which meet local needs said Mr. Barrett, who serves as Chairman of the Alliance’s Steering Committee.

A sound regulatory system that encourages fair competition and innovative business models is also pre-requisite, added ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré, an Alliance Steering Committee member.

The Alliance is a low-bureaucracy organization with its budget of virtually zero, Mr. Barrett told Silicon Valley representatives gathered at the Computer History in Mountain View.  Founded in 2006, the United Nations Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies for Development brings together private and public sector and civil society organizations to collaborate on multifaceted mechanisms to spread the digital revolution worldwide.

Today’s exchange of ideas and experiences covered issues such as bringing broadband to Africa, building a volunteer cyber corps and linking venture capital to development.  Also on the agenda were talks on crafting local content, encouraging the spread of telecentres and mining technological innovations for development payoffs.

The next meeting of the Global Alliance on 26 March in New York will feature assistive technologies for persons with disabilities.  In May, there will be a global forum on youth and information and communication technologies for development, in Geneva, Switzerland.

For further information, please contact Tim Wall, United Nations Department of Public Information, tel.:  (646) 707-8568, e-mail:  wallt@un.org, or Laura Anderson, Intel Corporation, tel.:  (480) 213-8464, e-mail:  laura.m.anderson@intel.com.

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For information media • not an official record