Digital Divide
11 May 2013
New Study from Internet Society and Analysys Mason Examines Factors Hindering Development of Internet Access in Africa ISOC
The Internet Society today published a new study, 'Lifting barriers to Internet development in Africa: suggestions for improving connectivity,' which examines the factors hindering Internet development in Africa and explores possible remedies.
03 March 2013
Demand for Internet and mobile services rising due to lower prices – UN report United Nations
There will soon be as many mobile cellular subscriptions as the 7 billion people inhabiting the planet, according to figures released today by the United Nations, which show that strong sustained demand for information and communication technology services is being encouraged by falling prices for broadband Internet.
17 January 2013
Mobile phones may not solve health challenges in poor countries The Guardian
Two reviews have found little evidence that mobile phone technology is having a great impact on managing disease
09 December 2012
At key technology conference, Secretary-General warns of 'digital divide' in internet age United Nations
The management of information and communication technology should be "transparent, democratic, and inclusive," Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said of a major meeting organised by the United Nations International Telecommunication Union.
10 November 2012
Advancing Internet access in developing countries can help achieve sustainable economies - UN official United Nations
Helping developing countries build their citizens' access to the Internet is akin to giving them a tool that boosts their chances of achieving sustainable economic growth, a senior United Nations official told a global meeting on Internet governance today.
07 November 2012
Over two billion people now connected to Internet but digital divide remains wide - UN United Nations
While citing the rapid development and growth of the Internet, a top United Nations official today urged greater efforts to bridge the ongoing digital divide and ensure that everyone around the world can harness its benefits.
15 September 2012
The Mobile Browser Dominates in Emerging Markets All Things D
There are seven billion people in this world and only 1.2 billion computers -- but close to six billion cellphones. That makes the commercialization ability and growth potential for the mobile Internet massively greater than that of the PC-based Internet. China, the world's biggest Internet market, recently surpassed the U.S. in smartphone activation, and the mobile browser is once again coming to the forefront. Here's why.
27 August 2012
Innovation in Africa: Kenya's technology start-up scene is about to take off The Economist
Visitors to Kenya's capital are often horrified by the homicidal minibuses called matatu. They swerve around potholes, seldom signal and use their iffy brakes only at the last second. They are therefore an ideal subject for a video game, which is why Planet Rackus, a Nairobi start-up, released "Ma3Racer" last year. Each player uses his mobile phone to steer a matatu down the street. The (unrealistic) goal is to avoid pedestrians. Within a month, a quarter of a million people in 169 countries had downloaded the game.
21 August 2012
Reining in internet will only widen global digital divide Bangkok Post
This year could be an important turning point in the history of the internet. A meeting scheduled for December will determine if the globally connected network of networks continues to be a source of robust economic growth, particularly in the developing world; or if a new, great digital divide will emerge, one that benefits wealthy European nations and begins to leave Southeast Asia behind.
11 August 2012
India to trigger economic boom by giving mobiles to the poor Daily Telegraph [UK]
The Indian government is considering plans to give millions of mobile phones to its poorest families to help lift them from penury.
04 July 2012
India's Internet population small, but powerful on social ZDNet
With barely 10 percent Internet penetration, India has managed to create consumer class that leverages prowess of social media to fight for its rights.
25 June 2012
Rio 20 recognizes essential role of ICT and broadband networks as catalyst for sustainable development International Telcommunication Union
Rio 20, the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development has recognized in its outcome document the critical role of information and communication technologies in accelerating the implementation of sustainable development commitments.
20 June 2012
Billions miss out on the internet, says Google's Eric Schmidt The Australian
Google's executive chairman Eric Schmidt has warned that vast numbers of the world's population are missing out on the advantages brought by the internet.
21 May 2012
Broadband Commission releases first country case studies - Snapshot of state of broadband in four emerging economies spanning the Americas, Asia and Europe ITU
The Broadband Commission for Digital Development, in partnership with ITU, has today released its first country case studies looking in-depth at the state of broadband development in four economies and examining links between broadband and the UN Millennium Development Goals.
18 May 2012
WAFICT: Bridging Digital Divide through Broadband This Day
Information and Communications (ICT) industry players, last week gathered in Lagos for the 2012 West Africa Information and Communications Technology (WAFICT) Congress to discuss policy objectives and strategies in bridging digital divide in West African countries, using broadband. Emma Okonji reports on the planned strategy to deepen broadband penetration.
10 April 2012
2.5 Million Laptops Later, One Laptop Per Child Doesn't Improve Test Scores Mashable
At $200 per computer, One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) has sold or facilitated donations of about 2.5 million laptops to classrooms in 42 different countries.
06 April 2012
Divide between tech-savvy countries widens Financial Times
A new digital divide is opening up between countries that make effective use of information and communications technology, and those that do not, argue the authors of a new report published Wednesday by Insead and the World Economic Forum.
18 November 2011
Visa to Offer Mobile Payments in Developing Nations New York Times
Visa has been hard at work on a mobile digital wallet that it hopes to roll out early next year. But that's not the only mobile market the credit card company has its eye on.
14 November 2011
Internet’s last-mile challenges in India by Osama Manzar Live Mint
The situation of Internet connectivity in India is like our roads. It is not about how much Internet is available in India, but the quality of its bandwidth
13 November 2011
The Last Person by Thomas L. Friedman New York Times
There is a concept in telecommunications called "the last mile," that part of any phone system that is the most difficult to connect -- the part that goes from the main lines into people's homes. Prem Kalra, the director of the new Indian Institute of Technology in Rajasthan, one of the elite M.I.T.'s of India, has dedicated his school to overcoming a different challenge: connecting "the last person."
10 November 2011
The mobile revolution: how smartphones are putting Sudan at the centre of the world Daily Telegraph [UK]
Last week, I received an email about a problem my company was having with our online shop. I happened to be out of the office, so I pulled out my laptop, plugged in a 3G mobile broadband dongle, and went online to try and fix it - something countless workers and commuters do every day. The difference was that I was standing in a field near Atbara in North Sudan, while villagers were making mud bricks a few meters away.
03 October 2011
Hailing the Google bus in India The Economist
Like the travelling fairs that still roam India, a snazzy white bus trundles along the subcontinent's B-roads, stopping in small towns for a few days at a time and inviting locals into another world. But in place of tightrope-walking girls and performing monkeys, its main attraction is access to the internet. For some visitors, it is their first time online.
Internet divide grips Europe's crisis-riven south: Report EurActiv
Northern European countries are reaping more than twice the benefits than their crisis-riven southern counterparts from the internet as a contributor to their net GDP, according to a new survey.
01 October 2011
Poor nations urged to tap Web fast for growth Reuters
With online business increasingly driving economic growth, developing nations' top priority should be the infrastructure their citizens need to get connected, delegates at an Internet conference in Nairobi said this week.
28 August 2011
africa.slow: The last continent without fast, easy and cheap internet access The Economist
Sierra Leone's single largest link to the internet sits on a ridge in the west of the capital, Freetown. Behind a red wall topped with razor wire several satellite dishes point skyward. The surrounding district is called Wilberforce, after the 18th-century British politician who campaigned against the slave trade. However, the digital connection maintained by Airtel, a mobile-phone company, is not free: it costs $89,000 a month.
