The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) announced a week ago that it will be launching Connect the World, a major new development drive designed to bring access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) to the estimated one billion people worldwide for whom making a simple telephone call remains out of reach.
I’ve read all that’s been published on the issue, and the only thing I made clear from it all is that examples of concrete actions to achieve this goal include connecting villages via community access points, connecting schools and universities, connecting health centres and hospitals, and connecting public libraries and research centres (see the Presentation by the Secretary-General, Mr. Yoshio Utsumi 
( 306 Kb).
I don’t know it there were any press kits — the Secretary-General said so — but I could not find more information but that the initiative comprises three key Building Blocks — Enabling Environment, Infrastructure & Readiness, and Applications & Services.
Well, this is not what I’d call a lot of information. After making the audience cry on how bad things in the world are, Mr. Utsumi closed the session saying that I would like to close my remarks today simply by asking that you “stay tuned”.
Ok, we will. But next time, please, tell us something we just cannot find in the Telecomms’ TV Ads.
If you need to cite this article in a formal way (i.e. for bibliographical purposes) I dare suggest:
Peña-López, I. (2005) “ITU to bridge the digital divide: Connect the World” In ICTlogy,
#21, June 2005. Barcelona: ICTlogy.
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https://ictlogy.net/review/?p=294
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