Results of a survey conducted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on the perceived importance of agreed-upon targets for improving connectivity and access in the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) show overwhelmingly that cyberspace should be a shared resource.
The results were released earlier this week to coincide with World Telecommunications Day, as the ITU celebrated its 139th anniversary.
The survey was conducted online between April and May. The respondents were from Africa, Asia, Australasia (Oceana), North and South America, jointly making up 47%. More than 50% of the total of 1 250 respondents were from Europe.
The response rates in these regions reflect the telecommunication access indicators as determined by the World Summit on the Information Society in the World Telecommunication Development Report 2003 and are consistent with the “digital divide” that separates developed nations from less developed ones.
ITU secretary general Yoshio Utsumi noted: “ICTs alone may not feed the hungry, eradicate poverty or reduce child mortality, but they are an increasingly important catalyst that spurs economic growth and social equity.
“ICTs allow for more efficient agricultural production, diversity and distribution. They offer the possibility of delivering basic health services to those in dire need living in areas with little or no access to health-care facilities.
“They can extend the reach of educators allowing them to bring knowledge to the most remote corners of our planet.”
The 10 targets in the WSIS Plan of Action for improving access and connectivity to ICTs by 2015, which was endorsed by 175 member states, were all rated as very important to achieving an information society that would benefit all of humanity. These results were consistent regardless of region, or age of the respondents.
The targets for 2015, as accepted in the WSIS Plan of Action, and their rankings, include connecting institutions of learning and schools with ICTs, connecting scientific and research centres with ICTs, and ensuring that more than half the world’s inhabitants have access to ICTs within their reach. Most targets ranked above 60% with only one — universal access to television and radio services — ranking below 50% at 47,8%.
Connecting public libraries, cultural centres, museums, post offices and archives with ICTs was rated higher in the world’s most impoverished region, Africa (76%), and the world’s most populous continent, Asia (73%). — I-Net Bridge