presented by Carlos P. Braga Acting Director, Development Gateway Manager, infoDev May 18, 2001 – Brussels The Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries Digital Opportunities and the LDCs

Internet Hosts in 1998

Internet Hosts in 2000

7% of World Pop. speaks English 75% of Worldwide Web-sites are in English Jan. 95 Jan. 96 Jan. 97 Jan. 98 Jan. 99 US Other industrialized countries Developing countries Internet Hosts (millions) Connectivity Jan 2000: 72.4 m Internet Hosts 30 m (70%) 11 m (26%) 1.5 m (4%) (the first ten countries amount for 1.2 m) Other dimensions of the Divide

Cross-Country Inequality: Information Infrastructure Investments Skewed toward Rich Countries

The US broadband revolution Adopter Countries’ broadband revolution National Information Infrastructure (scope and quality) Time Convergence Latecomers Divergence The Promise and Peril of the Networking Revolution Source: Pyramid Research, 2000

Closing the Digital Divide: A Four-Part Program  Support Competition and Privatization Policies (e.g., regulatory reform)  Facilitate Infrastructure Financing by the Private Sector  Invest in Digital Literacy and E-government  Launch, Test and Mainstream Successful Pilot Projects: Digital Opportunities

Development Gateway

Value Proposition of the Portal  Solving development problems by sharing high- quality information from local, national and global sources, tailored to users’ needs -- by topic and community  Providing a platform for establishing common standards for the exchange of information within the development community  Expanding opportunities for building and sharing knowledge and experience -- in and among developing countries

Accessible Information on Development Activities

Foreign Direct Investment Page

E-government page

 Algeria  Pakistan  Bulgaria  Georgia  Romania  Dominican Republic  Indonesia infoDev Country Gateway Grants  Colombia  Russia  West Bank & Gaza  Armenia  Azerbaijan  China  Ukraine  Kyrgyz Rep.  Moldova  Nicaragua  Venezuela  Sri Lanka  Kazakhstan  Croatia  Uzbekistan  Uruguay  Mongolia  Namibia  Rwanda*  Jamaica  El Salvador  Costa Rica  India  Tajikistan  Poland infoDev is providing seed funding to initiate Country Gateways:  Allocated US$1.8 million to date  Grants of up to US$100,000  71 proposals received from 51 countries  32 funded Additional countries that are currently preparing a country gateway proposal to infoDev:  Argentina, Bangladesh, Chile, Mauritania, Niger, Peru, Zambia * Countries designated as least developed by the United Nations

 UNDP jointly supporting United Nations Partnership Manager  UNICEF, UNIFEM, UNAIDS, UNESCO, WHO, FAO among content sources  Netaid partnership on “Taking Action” Portal  UNCTAD partnership on the Foreign Direct Investment Page  Discussions underway with ITC, UN-ECLAC, and WHO  UNDP support for Country Gateways Partnerships--UN System Collaborators

Development Gateway Foundation  Promote development of active networks of experts on ICT for development; strengthen capacity for delivering projects; help narrow the digital divide  Establish a research and training center in the developing world to develop and test programs  Provide seed funding for local, national, regional, and global projects and programs

For more information