1. SUPPORTING DEVELOPMENT COLLABORATION Bellanet and www4mail Increasing web access in developing countries - Katherine Morrow - www.bellanet.org

2. Web-to-Email Gateways  A free, automated service  Delivering 5,000+ web pages by email a day to Internet users in the South  A low-cost, pragmatic approach to bridging the Digital Divide TO: www4mail@access.bellanet.orgwww4mail@access.bellanet.org SUBJECT: ------------------------------- http://www.bellanet.org Web-to-Email returns the requested web page to the user as an email attachment.

3. Timeline  Agora, 1994 by W3C – Text only; no queries  GetWeb, 1996 by Satellife  www4mail, 1998 by ICTP and Unganisha (IDRC), later Bellanet  Kabissa (2000), Eldis, Pubmed (2002)  PDF by email, Google by email, etc.

4. Bellanet milestones  2000: Stockholm Challenge finalist for ICTP  WAVE Strategy  Decisionmaker’s Guide  2001: Cluster  Media coverage – Libération, La Reppublica  2002: LEISA Magazine  Institute for Connectivity in the Americas (ICA)/IDRC support for web-to-email in LAC

5. Usage by Country Other stats

6. What’s being downloaded 1. Recreational (music, sports) 2. Computer-related 3. News & current events 4. Scientific/educational

7. Issues to consider  “Appropriate use” – ban MP3?  Coordination of efforts – Specialised applications – Technical efforts – Marketing – User support  National- and ISP-level blocking

8. Types of support  Carry the message – on web pages, email lists, in training sessions and materials, in print publications, in international fora  Host/implement – Public organisations, universities, ISPs, content providers, private companies – Small cost, big impact  Technical input – Individuals, software development teams, companies, IT students/faculty

9.  “The DOT Force […] recognizes that a rapid response to the so-called “digital divide” in accordance with the rapid pace of ICT innovation is essential, and reaffirms the need for a multi-faceted and multi-layered effort by all stakeholders.” (Digital Opportunities for All, May 2001, p. 4)