By Brian Krebs,
Newsbytes.com Staff Writer
June 1, 2001

Leaders from eight industrialized nations are reviewing the recommendations from a yearlong study that could help decision-makers bridge the yawning digital divide between wealthy and developing nations.

The report is the collaborative work of the Digital Opportunity Taskforce - or "DOT Force" for short - led by the U.S. government and non-governmental organizations from the remainder of the G8 nations. The DOT Force was conceptualized at last summer's G8 summit in Okinawa, Japan, as a way to help close the digital divide, a phenomenon characterized by the limited access to communications technologies among the world's poorer citizens. The report acknowledges that at least a third of the world's population never has even made a phone call, much less used or seen a computer. In addition, few developing nations have the infrastructure or government market liberalization policies needed to entice private investors.

But the report also notes that many of the development goals identified by the United Nations - including a greater emphasis on education and gender equality, as well as a reduction in poverty and infant mortality - can be achieved a great deal faster with the help of Internet technologies. The DOT Force report includes a series of recommendations for action, including the creation of an International eDevelopment Resource Network made up of regulatory and policy experts from the northern and southern hemispheres. Such experts would serve as consultants to governments seeking to lay the groundwork for private investment in a more modern telecommunications infrastructure.

The report also contains recommendations aimed at increasing cooperation between international health care providers, as well as boosting the amount of non-English language content online. The task force also recommends that private and nonprofit sectors in developing nations ramp up efforts to wire schools for "e-learning" and to ensure adequate teacher training. In addition, the study warns nations against banking on any one technology to meet their access needs. Instead, governments should each examine the cost-effectiveness of multiple technologies - including satellite, cable, telephone and wireless - before committing to a particular technology, the task force said.

G8 nations are reviewing the report in advance of the upcoming G8 Summit in Genoa, Italy, in late June, when leaders are expected to form a cohesive action plan based on the report's recommendations. "Over the next two months, these G8 countries will make decisions both individually and as group about which of these recommendations they wish to support," said Linda Ricci, chief communications officer at The Markle Foundation. Her organization has teamed up with the Harvard Center for International Development, IBM Corp., and other companies to work on network readiness and other technological improvement issues. "In turn, the question of how to proceed will be determined by level of commitment they're willing to put forth," Ricci said.

Indeed, none of the recommendations would amount to much more than that, were it not for the support of corporations, non-governmental organizations and international investment banks. The Export-Import Bank has said it plans to accept credit for emerging nations, while the Overseas Private Investment Corp. (OPIC) would offer a $200 million line of credit for developing countries' e-commerce and digital-divide projects. Some of the most familiar names in U.S. technology companies have also pledged economic and organizational support for the task force, including: 3Com Corp., AT&T Corp., the Carnegie Corp., the Center for Democracy and Technology, Citigroup, Compaq Computer Corp., Corning Inc., the Information Technology Association of America, the Information Technology Industry Council, Lucent Technologies, Motorola Inc., Nortel Networks, Novell Inc., SGI, the Chubb Corp., AOL Time Warner, Verizon and WorldCom.

"As we get closer to Genoa, I think we'll have a better idea of where this will go next," Ricci said. "But it's really going to be determined largely by the extent to which the G8 countries embraces this report."