The new information and communications technologies are among the driving forces of
globalisation. They are bringing people together, and bringing decision makers
unprecedented new tools for development. At the same time, however, the gap between
information ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ is widening, and there is a real danger that the world’s
poor  will  be excluded  from  the emerging knowledge-based global  economy.


Kofi Annan, Former Secretary-General of the United Nations