A collective approach to the digital divide

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A collective approach to the digital divide
UNDP

• In addition to income, goods or services,
  information is today predominantly the property
  of the rich world and a thin slice of that world
  is rich
• Up to half of the world has never used a
  telephone
• Over 40 of the US now uses the Internet - but
  just 1.6 of Asians and 0.3 of Africans do
  so.80 of web pages and 90 of documents on the
  web are in English despite the fact that the vast
  majority of the world does not speak it.
• The scale of ICT challenge is immense. Today 96
  per cent of Internet host computers reside in the
  highest income nations.
• There are more Internet hosts in Finland than the
  whole of Latin American and the Caribbean, more
  in NY. City than in Africa.

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UNDPs Role

• At the global level
• Over the course of the past year, UNDP has begun
  the process of setting up three big initiatives
• The Digital Opportunity Task Force or dot force
  in which UNDP and the World Bank serve as the
  joint Secretariat
• The digital opportunITy initiative with Andersen
  Consulting, the Markle Foundation and the World
  Bank and The Global Network Readiness and
  Resource Initiative with UN Foundation

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UNDPs Role

• At the country level,
• UNDP will undertake the Global Network Readiness
  and Resource Initiative which will offer
  country-level assistance to build national
  information infrastructure strategies
• In addition, UNDP has joined a strategic
  partnership with Cisco Systems, the UN Volunteers
  to train students in 24 of the least developed
  countries.
• UNDP today has connected more than 15 countries
  to the Internet, deployed (IP) networks in more
  than 40 countries
• trained more than 25,000 organisations/institution
  s and created more than 5,000websites in local
  content

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UNDPs Global initiatives

• UNDP launched a Sustainable Development
  Networking programme (SDNP) in 1993 aiming at
  addressing global connectivity and networking
  issues, capacity building for national
  stakeholders and national content development
• The programme currently operates in 45 countries
• UNDP launched an IT for development programme in
  1997 aiming at increasing awareness and
  generating IT strategies at the national level,
  building national capacity and deploying
  Technology access Community Centres

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Pilot community centres in EgyptA case study

• The Egyptian Government supported by the UNDP,
  has set up three Internet access centres to put
  people in touch with each other and the
  information they need
• Located some 100 Km northeast of Cairo, Zagazig
  is a historical city with export oriented textile
  and carpet industries. Its population over 4
  million.
• The number of users has grown steadily, 4000
  people received training in the last 18 months
• Today the site has over 1,000 pages, most of
  which are in Arabic

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Pilot community centres in Egypt

• In Egypt, the Government has already decided that
  community centers will be established in all of
  the countrys 26 Govern.
• Due to a latent demand, three staff left the
  centres to open a cyber café providing similar
  services to the community.
• access to new information technology skills for
  members of rural communities utilizing non
  traditional learning approaches which may also be
  suitable for illiterates.

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Beyond access

• The community access centres are becoming
  incubation centres.
• Small business in rural areas are renting usage
  time at these sites
• Delivery of Government Information and Services
• Access to interactive training modules on a
  variety of health issues
• Telework
• Flexible networking
• Electronic conferencing and tech support services

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Policy Formulation at the national level

• the project is contributing to policy formulation
  at the national level in the following areas
• Modalities for community based access to new
  information technologies
• Modalities for awareness raising and capacity
  building
• Modalities for development-oriented usage of new
  information technologies
• modalities for generating income and strategic
  partnerships

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The model replicated in Jordan

• Based on the pilot experience in Egypt and at the
  request of the Government of Jordan, UNDP
  established the first community access technology
  centre in Safawi, the Northern Badia in Jordan
• The Badia region faces a variety of
  socio-economic challenges, including a rapidly
  growing population, inadequate employment
  opportunities and scarce resources
• Youth, women, illiterate groups, small and medium
  scale entrepreneurs are the beneficiaries of the
  pilot
• The model will be also replicated in Lebanon and
  Morocco

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The model replicated

• The fundamental development challenge for the
  centre will be to provide knowledge
• Knowledge will contribute to the enhancement of
  the quality of life of the residents through the
  development of income-generating opportunities.
• Specific areas to be addressed in the Badia
• Education
• Health
• Women/gender related issue
• Tourism

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The role of the UN

• Ensuring universal access is a task beyond the
  scope of any one institution - governments,
  United Nations agencies, private sector, civil
  societies and non-governmental organizations.
• The United Nations continues to involve civil
  societies and non-governmental organizations, in
  forwarding the universal access agenda
• The United Nations role lies in building
  consensus and partnerships among all stakeholders.

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