UN-backed summit aims to close 'digital divide'

A United Nations-backed conference, whose first phase is to be broadcast worldwide from Switzerland in December, will focus more on opportunities than on problems as it grapples with closing the digital gap between rich countries and poor, a senior UN official said today.

A preparatory committee meeting later this month in Geneva is expected to finalize a declaration and a plan of action for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), Nitin Desai, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Adviser for the Summit, told journalists at UN Headquarters in New York.

The first part of the Summit will be held from 10 to 12 December, while the second phase is scheduled to take place in 2005 in Tunis, Tunisia.

The private sector had done much of the development of information and communication technology (ICT), Mr. Desai said, but some issues, such as spam, viruses, cybercrime and pornography, required "Internet governance" policy frameworks created across national boundaries.

The Summit would also address the diversity of languages and cultures that should be made more viable in Internet culture and the interactivity that government education and health departments should strive for, he said.

Conference participants would address such issues as e-education, e-health and e-governance, Mr. Desai added.

The connectivity gap between rich and poor had narrowed, especially as developing countries made more use of mobile phones, but the computerization gap had not, he said. Narrowing the "digital divide" by developing bandwidth and promoting content development would be key tasks of the Summit.

Video of press briefing