I never seems to be able to post to DDN ... I am going to give it one more try ... reading the analysis by Taran and others, I have to agree there are TOO MANY DIVIDES and not just digital. Read the email from Declan, one can just understand why this world has so many divides. When World Bank stated the digital divide is 'closer', what do they mean? Does it mean there are more computers sold and bought? By by whom? I have someone in Indonesia complained to me that 100 PC sent to the country for the Tsunami efforts just "VANISHED' without a trace. Now even if there is no all the 'divides' there is still one big divide -- those with POWER to take away the 100 PC, and those literally standing on the other side of the import clearance fence. And of course the Indonesian governmnet is putting extrodinatry import tax on PC and any so called 'digital equipments'. Including when the goods are for NGOs purposes (not sure if it is resolved now) ... The problem with most of the members of DDN (that I happened to read here) is they MIGHT have the good fortune to be born in the USA or other countries that are, as Declan suggested, that have all the good governance etc. THerefore it is difficult for them to really understand what it means to be cut-off because of religion, race, nationalities, citizenships, migrant status etc. etc. etc. AND most of all language ... and of course MONEY ... 100 USD per month for some is a sneeze. But even in a country such as Malaysia which is a modern and very well developed if compared to some countries in Africa for example, with 100 local money I can have very nice meals for 10 persons or more ... THerefore all these talks about digital divide are for people who HAS digital avilable to them because they do not face many of the 'divides' mentioned above ... so how can we understand what the needs of these people? Furthermore, even if we build a teleceter for them and they can access to the rest of the world and get a PhD in something ... what good would that be for someone in a fishing village? It would be just like building an ultra modern hospital without providing ultra modern doctors and nurses ... My question during one of EU NGOs workshop --- providing scholarship to educate people from Africa and other countries is noble, BUT why give them the education they cannot use back in their own countries? And do not forget ... those of use who read and write here and mostly highly educated. We have the means that's why we are here. A agreed with Taran totally that there is just so many 'divides' I just try to do what I can manage to help further things along ... I no longer belive in waiting for a big 'bang' miracles ... Since I am not sure if this posting would have problems, I will stop here.
Chuck Sherwood <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: To All: This is the kind of "knownothing" analysis that is being generated by the World Bank report. Declan's listserv is read by many thought leaders and his analysis will contribute to the general misunderstanding and misinformation about the Digital Divide. Your comments should be addressed to him directly at the Politech email address. Chuck Sherwood -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [Politech] World Bank report questions size of "digital divide" [econ] Date: Tue, 01 Mar 2005 01:04:11 -0500 From: Declan McCullagh To: politech@politechbot.com I've never completely understood the term "digital divide." Perhaps it's mere parochialism: I live in Washington, DC and have access to DSL and cable modem connections and can purchase a T1 line. But I don't think so -- the real problem is the term "digital divide" itself. Any such "divide" is necessarily a subset of an economic divide. I have access to technological resources because the U.S. and its peer nations have stable governments, functioning court systems, not-entirely-insane tax rates, functioning bank systems, and pay some attention to property rights. That encourages investment, both domestic and foreign, and fosters an environment that lets a middle class grow and communications providers prosper. What I just described is not the situation in many parts of the world, especially Africa and perhaps portions of Latin America, that are the most vocal in demanding "Digital Solidarity Funds" paid for by tax dollars in countries that have made more sane economic choices. (This is not an accident of geography. In the early 1900s, Argentina was an economic powerhouse. Now its citizens are understandably leery of bank accounts and credit cards, thanks to past government thievery.) A recent UPI column describes the problems confronting Latin America today, thanks in large part to politicans' poor economic choices: http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050211-033722-6932r.htm In other words, it's a bit silly to talk about the "digital divide" without also addressing the underlying problems of broken court systems, military rule, confiscatory government policies, and so on that these nations have yet to address. Solving those problems would go a long way to solving any "digital divide" that still remains. But it's always easier to beg for a handout. -Declan --- The summary: http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=7731166 GENEVA (Reuters) - The "digital divide" between rich and poor nations is narrowing fast, the World Bank said on Thursday, calling into question a costly United Nations campaign to bring hi-tech telecommunications to the developing world... Poorer countries, particularly from Africa, are expected to repeat calls in Geneva Friday for a "Digital Solidarity Fund" to help finance the infrastructure they say is needed to close the perceived technology gap... The World Bank report itself: http://lnweb18.worldbank.org/ict/resources.nsf/InfoResources/04C3CE1B933921A585256FB60051B8F5 All of this evidence suggests that, at least in terms of access to basic infrastructure, the digital divide is rapidly closing. Many fewer people around the world have no access at all to ICTs, and people in the developing world are getting more access at an incredible rate—far faster than they got access to new technologies in the past, and far faster than developing countries are adding telephone lines today. _______________________________________________ Politech mailing list Archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Moderated by Declan McCullagh (http://www.mccullagh.org/) _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. Men know what is happening now. The gods know the things of the future, the full and sole possessors of all lights. Of the future things, wise men perceive approaching things. Their hearing is sometimes, during serious studies, disturbed. The mystical clamor of approaching events reaches them. And they heed it with reverence. While outside on the street, the peoples hear nothing at all. Constantine P. Cavafy (1915) _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
