The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has launched a development drive to bring ICT access to the approximately one billion people who do not even have access to a telephone line.
The Connect the World project, launched in Geneva last week, has been designed to encourage new projects and partnerships among players who have the ability to bridge the digital divide.
The project will showcase current development efforts and help to identify areas where needs are most pressing, with a view to creating a critical mass that will generate the momentum needed to connect all communities by 2015.
The initiative will address the three key building blocks that need to be addressed to accelerate ICT development, notably an enabling environment, infrastructure and readiness, and applications and services.
"It is time to stop regarding access to ICT as a privilege available to the rich few countries in the world, since ICT now underpins just about every aspect of modern life," says ITU secretary-general, Yoshio Utsumi.
"It is not ICT that will solve the problem of the digital divide, it is people and especially people working in partnership. So while Connect the World is about harnessing the power of ICT, it`s also about harnessing the power of people working together to connect the unconnected."
Utsumi points out that 30% of villages worldwide are still without any kind of ICT connection, and that the 942 million people living in the world`s developed economies have five times better access to fixed and mobile telecoms and nine times better access to the Internet than the 85% of the world`s population living in low and lower middle-income countries.
Connect the World emphasises the importance of partnerships between the public and private sectors, UN agencies and civil society and has 22 founding partners, including Alcatel, Huawei, Intel, MicrosoftInfosys and WorldSpace.
It also has the support of governments and government agencies in countries as diverse as Egypt, France, Senegal and Korea, as well as regional and international organisations like UNESCO, the European Commission and the International Telecommunication Satellite Organisation, along with civil society organisations like T'el'ecoms Sans Fronti`eres and Child Helpline International.
"By providing an international platform to showcase the many innovative and successful development initiatives already under way, the ITU hopes Connect the World will spur organisations at every level to get actively involved in development," says Utsumi.
"Every Connect the World partner is working to make a real difference and so we applaud their efforts and hope the projects they are showcasing within this initiative will serve to stimulate new partnerships and inspire others to join us and to launch their own development activities."
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