ITU CoE/ARB IP Application and Digital Divide Workshop Tunis/Tunisia 17 – 19 June 2003 Internet Digital Divide Abdelfattah ABUQAYYAS Coordinator Arab Centre of Excellence ITU BDT

ITU CoE/ARB IP Application and Digital Divide Workshop Tunis/Tunisia 17 – 19 June 2003 Digital Divide  Digital divide refers to gab between individuals, households, businesses and geographic areas at different socio-economic levels with regard both to their opportunities to access information and communication technologies (ICT) and to their use of the Internet for a variety of activities.  The Digital Divide is the socio-economic gap between industrialized & lesser developed communities due to the rapid deployment of digital technologies

ITU CoE/ARB IP Application and Digital Divide Workshop Tunis/Tunisia 17 – 19 June 2003 Internet Digital Divide  Today’s digital divide is a fertile field for the growth of tomorrow’s societal digital opportunities in both developing and developed countries  The facts are:  There are more Internet hosts in Finland than all of Africa and Middle East  The city of New York has more Internet hosts that the whole of Africa  96% of Internet host computers are in high income countries which have only 16% of the world’s population  high cost and metered access of local calls is seen as frustrating Internet use in some countries

ITU CoE/ARB IP Application and Digital Divide Workshop Tunis/Tunisia 17 – 19 June 2003 Inter-regional Internet backbones Internet Backbone Source: TeleGeography Inc., Global Backbone Database. Data valid for Sept USA & Canada Europe 13’258 Mbit/s Asia- Pacific 5’916 Mbit/s Latin America & Caribbean 949 Mbit/s Arab States, Africa 170 Mbit/s 152 Mbit/s 69 Mbit/s 63 Mbit/s

ITU CoE/ARB IP Application and Digital Divide Workshop Tunis/Tunisia 17 – 19 June 2003 The “New Economy” Network  More than 95 % of global IP capacity passes through United States  96 out of top 100 websites in the United States  Developing countries wanting to hook up to US IP backbone must pay both half-circuits of the leased line  Smaller ISPs must pay bigger ones for transit  Accelerating returns to scale  high volume routes have lowest unit costs  big hubs get bigger  resources go to the strong The Digital Divide !!!!

ITU CoE/ARB IP Application and Digital Divide Workshop Tunis/Tunisia 17 – 19 June 2003 The Challenge – Digital Divide  ICTs transforming economy and society  Tremendous benefits in health, education, trade, private sector investment and jobs  But large populations being left behind  91% of Internet users live in wealthiest countries that account for only 19% of the world’s population

ITU CoE/ARB IP Application and Digital Divide Workshop Tunis/Tunisia 17 – 19 June 2003 Telecom Digital Divide Fixed and Mobile Penetration

ITU CoE/ARB IP Application and Digital Divide Workshop Tunis/Tunisia 17 – 19 June 2003 Internet penetration around the world European Union East Asia World Latin America Developing countries Arab Region Sub-Saharan Africa South Asia Source: ITU, data for 2000

ITU CoE/ARB IP Application and Digital Divide Workshop Tunis/Tunisia 17 – 19 June 2003 Internet Digital Divide PCs and Internet (per 100 inhabitant)

ITU CoE/ARB IP Application and Digital Divide Workshop Tunis/Tunisia 17 – 19 June 2003 The Internet Divide

ITU CoE/ARB IP Application and Digital Divide Workshop Tunis/Tunisia 17 – 19 June 2003 Arab Region: Internet Divide

ITU CoE/ARB IP Application and Digital Divide Workshop Tunis/Tunisia 17 – 19 June 2003 Digital Divide = Economic Gap

ITU CoE/ARB IP Application and Digital Divide Workshop Tunis/Tunisia 17 – 19 June 2003 Fixed Tele-Density

ITU CoE/ARB IP Application and Digital Divide Workshop Tunis/Tunisia 17 – 19 June 2003 Mobile Density

ITU CoE/ARB IP Application and Digital Divide Workshop Tunis/Tunisia 17 – 19 June 2003 PC Density

ITU CoE/ARB IP Application and Digital Divide Workshop Tunis/Tunisia 17 – 19 June 2003 Factors on Internet Use Internet use = Infrastructure ++ AffordabilityHuman skills Soft factors Language Content Education Literacy Hard factors Infrastructure Pricing Affordability

ITU CoE/ARB IP Application and Digital Divide Workshop Tunis/Tunisia 17 – 19 June 2003 Language/Content % 1 % % 43 Excellent 7 None % Limited 11 Good 38 Fair % English proficiency of Thai Internet Users 2000 If you do not understand some basic English, you are not likely to use the Internet Source: ITU adapted from NECTEC. “Internet User Profile of Thailand 2000.”

ITU CoE/ARB IP Application and Digital Divide Workshop Tunis/Tunisia 17 – 19 June 2003 Language  Ability to understand other languages  People not familiar with an ‘Internet’ language, cannot take advantage of vast amounts of content & applications  Diversity  The more diversity, the less relevant single language content will be and the harder to achieve economies of scale  English 68.3%; Japanese 5.9%; German 5.8%; Chinese 3.9%; French 3.0%; Spanish 2.4%; Russian 1.9%; Portuguese 1.4%; Korean 1.3%; Italian 1.6%; Others 4.6%

ITU CoE/ARB IP Application and Digital Divide Workshop Tunis/Tunisia 17 – 19 June 2003 Policies for Closing the Digital Divide Closing The Digital Divide Closing The Digital Divide Contents for the Elderly and the Disabled & Measurement of the D. D. Provision of IT Learning Opportunities Access to Telecommunication Services Narrowing the Global Digital Divide Infrastructure for Telecommunication Services

ITU CoE/ARB IP Application and Digital Divide Workshop Tunis/Tunisia 17 – 19 June 2003  UN Resolution to hold Summit  Under patronage of UN SG Kofi Annan  ITU lead with support of other UN bodies and host countries  Meeting at the highest political level  Phase One in Geneva  Phase Two in Tunis  Summit Rationale  Develop a common vision of an inclusive global information society  Mobilize leaders with Action Plan to put ICTs at the service of human development  To bring together major players to discuss the challenges, the opportunities, and the dangers, emerging from the fundamental global transformation  Participants: Heads of state, UN agencies, industry leaders, non- governmental organizations, media reps. and civil society World Summit on the Information Society Geneva 2003 – Tunis 2005

ITU CoE/ARB IP Application and Digital Divide Workshop Tunis/Tunisia 17 – 19 June 2003 Internet Digital Divide Thank you Abdelfattah ABUQAYYAS