September 09, 2006

THE digital revolution, brought about by state-of-the-art technologies and has caused a fundamental amelioration in our lifestyles. The Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are growing exponentially and there are no foreseeable limits to them.

The flip side of the picture, however, involves a growing concern about the widening gap between developed countries and the rest of the world. Generally known as the digital divide, this is not connected per se to the revolution in ICT.

No doubt the creation of technologies is important, but perhaps more important is the provision of services these innovations offer in an unprejudiced and non-discriminatory fashion throughout the world. This presents challenges for the emerging economies, as the “renaissance” of information society must be nurtured and knowledge must be created for all, not just for the elite.

This is a difficult task for the United States and Europe. Let’s discuss digital divide in some detail, with particular reference to awareness and establishment of digital technologies in a country.

Educational reforms

One of the major obstacles in narrowing the gap is lack of awareness about ICT development. Wealthy nations inhabit only 16 per cent of the world’s population and computers and cellphones are beyond the reach of nearly 3 billion people.

In such a scenario, awareness about e-business opportunities and about their accessibility emerges as a great challenge. This is a serious issue in which the state can play a vital role by launching a campaign for the Transfer of Technology (ToT) and by opening a nationwide learning programme through media and educational reforms.

In this regard, governments of the underserved countries should take benefits from eGovernment and eLearning programmes established by economic powers. The World Summit on Information Society is already a remarkable example when it comes to bridging the digital divide.

Another option is the establishment of research institutes aimed at facilitating reforms in digital technologies so that ideas flourish within the state, thus, allowing people to learn about the worth of various technologies through self-learning.

It is worth mentioning that projects like ADONIS, which involves e-training solutions for e-Businesses, “Virtual Enterprises” (VE01) and “TechFast” (TT) came from such research institutes.

Moreover, cross-border relations between institutes of the same domain would provide them with opportunities to become even better. This joint collaboration will then result in an exchange of people — students, researchers and other staff — between institutes, bringing less developed countries closer to their aims and objectives.

Basic infrastructure

The countries boasting digital innovations, which are also economically well-off, should invest heavily in those countries where human resources are in abundance but where skills need to be polished. Establishment of even the basic technical infrastructure in poor countries will automatically motivate them to forge ahead in some specific areas.

This can be done by giving them small assignments initially — for instance, the development of websites. We have the example of India, which started with such simple assignments like medical transcription and call centres in the ’80s. The country entered the software development business much later.

By the way, India today is earning revenues to the tune of $12 billion per annum. And many multinational software companies from around the world have moved their development offices and customer support management cells to India.

All this cannot be managed in an absence of support from the governments of such countries. The authorities there should formulate their policies in such a manner so that foreign IT infrastructure are facilitated.

In the long run, both “givers” and “takers” will benefit from the resulting economic growth, thereby bridging the divide. The economic indicators for software export by India are shown in the accompanying table.

The evolution of technology itself provides room for practical implementation of ideas, which may help close the gap. For example, it is quite difficult to install traditional telecommunications networks in countries like Congo, whose territory comprises dense tropical rainforests and in the populated areas of southern Sahara, which consists of deserts. Such areas do have the usual telecom setups but lag behind most other places where real digitisation exists.

These areas can be connected with the digital world reliably through alternative technologies, such as satellite communication and wireless networking. A study provides empirical evidence that cellphone users in Africa have already outnumbered those using land-line connections in countries like Morocco at an astonishing six-to-one ratio.

Breaking monopolies

Access to services and technologies must be provided economically, both in terms of infrastructure devices and applications. Meeting this need requires a great deal of cooperation between all the involved parties in order to ensure user affordability without compromising investor’s returns.

“Affordability” is one of the major causes of digital divide in poor countries, especially when a technology is monopolised by one organisation. For instance, in the early part of last decade, Pakistan had just one nationwide telecom operator called Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited (PTCL).

Due to a lack of competition among service providers, subscribers used to face frequent increase in national call charges which were already high relative to local means. Since 2003, when PTCL was deregulated, many foreign telecom companies and mobile operators have launched their operations in the country, enabling consumers to access internet at reasonable rates.

In general, therefore, it is important that regulators such as the International Telecommunication Union keep an eye on technological monopolisation and also support bilateral negotiations with service providers for cost sharing arrangements or “rate re-balancing”. Similarly, the authorities, telecommunication operators and ISPs could promote IT development by establishing concessionary rates or “e-rates” in public service institutions, such as academic institutions and libraries.

Conclusion

The implementation of ICT infrastructures provides a window of opportunity for all to move towards a sustainable information society. Governments as well as the other stakeholders must join hands for a digital revolution in order to bring connectivity to all parts of the world. The future can be what we dream of.

The writer muzammil786@hotmail.com is a research engineer who is based in France