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Bridging the Digital Divide
Information and communication technologies (ICT) have become a key component of peoples' lives.
ICT can connect individuals, small companies or groups of artisans in the poorest and most isolated areas of the world and bring them to the attention of national and even global markets. It makes it possible to leapfrog poor transport infrastructures so that distance from markets is no longer a drawback and inadequate, complex or costly distribution channels become a thing of the past. ICT offers the possibility of delivering basic health and education services more efficiently because people can have access to them from their own homes and communities.
ICT can help in the agricultural area, with farmers and farming communities having speedy access to information on weather reports, new production techniques and markets, all of which can serve to improve productivity. Traders and entrepreneurs can also benefit from information and opportunities for promoting their businesses nationally, regionally and globally.
ICT can also be extremely effective in improving governance. It gives a voice to people in developing countries, who have been isolated, invisible and silent, and lets them speak out regardless of their gender and where they live.
But access to ICT has not been equitable. The use of the technology and the access to it varies greatly among countries, and within countries, too, between urban and rural areas, between the rich and the poor, between the educated and the illiterate, between men and women.
This inequity is referred to as the "Digital Divide".
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