Digital Divide in the Commonwealth Deepens Inequalities

The 'digital divide' is in danger of intensifying existing social and economic inequalities.

The continuing gap between those who have access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) and those who do not -- the 'digital divide' -- is in danger of intensifying existing social and economic inequalities. Use of ICTs, after all, can reduce poverty and help create wealth, according to Professor Victor Ayeni, Director of the Commonwealth Secretariat's Governance and Institutional Development Division (GIDD), and Devindra Ramnarine, GIDD Adviser. Professor Ayeni is Chair of the Co-ordinating Committee of the Commonwealth Action Programme for the Digital Divide (CAPDD), and Mr Ramnarine is Programme Manager.

In an article on 'Sharing Expertise Between Countries and Across Differing ICT Environments -- the Experience of the Commonwealth Reflected Through the CAPDD' featured in 'Maitland+20 -- Fixing the Missing Link', both Professor Ayeni and Mr Ramnarine said ICTs have transformed government, business and education, and have enabled significant social and economic growth in countries. People without the infrastructure to access ICTs or the capacity to use it effectively, will continue to be marginalised.

Published as part of a collection of essays to mark the 20th anniversary of the final report from the Independent Commission for World Wide Telecommunications Development, set up by the UN's International Telecommunication Union, the article noted that ICTs have become essential to the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises, large organisations and nations. The authors stressed that ICTs are a valuable contributor to and enabler of broader development strategies.

"Major advances in ICT combined with the rapid growth of global networks, such as the internet, offer enormous opportunities to reduce social and economic inequalities and to enable local wealth creation and entrepreneurship. All Commonwealth agencies have been actively engaged over the past years in the use of ICTs to further development, including achieving the Millennium Development Goals," the writers said.

They stated that Commonwealth efforts have been particularly prominent in such areas as advancing education and human resource development, strengthening democratic values and promoting gender equality. This has included advocating effective and transparent public administration and good governance, promoting public health and health information diffusion, building appropriate policy-making capacity and fostering co-operation in technology.

CAPDD, which was set up by the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2002, is aimed at providing greater access to ICT for Commonwealth countries to bridge the digital divide. The renewed focus of the CAPDD in 2005 is targeted at building policy and regulatory capacity; modernising education and skills development; entrepreneurship for poverty reduction; promoting local access and connectivity; and regional networks, local content and knowledge.

 

CNIS - Commonwealth News and Information Service Issue 265, 14 December 2005

Key Links:

• Governance and Institutional Development