ICT Policy Formulation and e-Strategy Development: A ... - un-apcict

Internet users 100 inhabitants, 2000
information economy are
related to GNP (Figure 2). TAI
shown here are based on
data reported in 2001.
However, these trends are
still prevalent.
Figure 2
N
GNP Per Capita vs. Internet Penetration
Note: GNP per capita, US$, 1999 compared to Internet penetration,
2000. Each dot represents a country.
Source: ITU World Telecommunication Indicators database 18 .
Given these disparities, the
digital divide is really a
reflection of existing
disparities between the
haves and have-nots. As a
meeting of the Organization
for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD)
put it,
“The digital divide is a
symptom of existing economic and social divides, which will widen even further if
developing countries are not helped to take advantage of ICT in tackling economic and
social problems and are denied access to markets that are becoming increasingly ICTdependent
as part of globalization.” 19
Perspective of High-income Countries
According to the Human Development Report (HDR) of 2001,
“Leaders 20 (TAI above 0.5) – topped by Finland, the United States, Sweden and Japan –
are at the cutting edge of technological innovation. Technological innovation is selfsustaining,
and these countries have high achievements in technology creation, diffusion
and skills. Coming fifth is the Republic of Korea, and 10th is Singapore – two countries
that have advanced rapidly in technology in recent decades. This group is set apart from
the rest by its higher invention index, with a marked gap between Israel in this group
and Spain in the next.”
The view of industrialized countries is that ICTs can enable the economy and all sectors of
human activity. There is now clear proof that the adoption of ICTs in the 1990s in the USA is
directly related to increases in efficiency that have translated into increased rates of economic
growth and GDP. The USA has recognized that ICTs are major enablers of the economy and, as
18
ITU, World Telecommunication Development Report 2002: Reinventing Telecoms, Geneva, 2002.
19
OECD, ’Digital opportunities for poverty reduction: Addressing the international digital divide’, OECD Global Forum
on the Knowledge Economy, Joint OECD/UN/UNDP/WORLD BANK Global Forum, Exploiting the Digital Opportunities
for Poverty Reduction, Paris, 2001.
20
UNDP, Human Development Report 2001: Making New Technologies Work for Human Development, Oxford University
Press, New York, 2001.
ICT Policy Formulation and e-Strategy Development
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