Annan Sees Information Technology as Crucial in Global EconomyUN Secretary-General Kofi Annan November 16 stressed the importance of information technology in promoting economic growth and eradicating poverty, but he acknowledged that bridging the digital divide between rich and poor countries is not an easy job.The UN chief made the statement at the opening of the United Nations World Television Forum, a two-day gathering of 1,000 industry leaders and experts from around the world to discuss how to deal with the challenge of the digital divide. "Once certain basic conditions are in place, new information technology does have enormous potential to promote economic growth and to help eradicate poverty," Annan said. "It has already brought extraordinary benefits to the developed world, and it can improve the chances for poor countries to leapfrog some long and painful stages in the development process that others had to go through," he said. "Countries where most people don't have access to this technology cannot play a full part in the new global economy," he said. "And the countries which are least integrated into the global economy are, not surprisingly, those with the highest proportion of very poor people." "Information technology is not a magic formula that is going to solve all our problems. But it is a wonderful tool that can help liberate the poor and empower them: a farmer who has access to information about market prices is less likely to be abused by a middleman," he said. "The Internet can even enable him to cut out that middleman altogether and deal directly with clients far away. " However, the access to the information technology varies greatly from the developed countries to the developing ones. For example, Finland has more Internet hosts than all of Africa. "Bridging the digital divide is not going to be easy," he said. "Overcoming the obstacles will require concerted measures from a whole range of actors." To boost such efforts, Annan Monday appointed former Costa Rican President Jose Maria Figueres to head the UN Information and Communication Technologies Advisory Group. Figueres will lead a team of experts drawn from the private and public sectors and countries in both the North and the South to work on the establishment of the UN Digital Task Force. "This task force will provide overall leadership and help devise a strategy for information technology development," he said. The United Nations World Television Forum is an annual invitation event held at the United Nations headquarters designed for senior representatives of traditional and new media, academia, civil society and governments from around the world. |
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