presented by

Carlos P. BragaActing Director, Development Gateway

Manager, infoDev

May 18, 2001 – BrusselsThe Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries

Digital Opportunities and the LDCs

Internet Hosts in 1998Internet Hosts in 1998

Internet Hosts in 2000Internet Hosts in 2000

• 7% of World Pop. speaks English•75% of Worldwide Web-sites are in English

0

10

20

30

40

50

Jan.95

Jan.96

Jan.97

Jan.98

Jan.99

USOther industrialized countriesDeveloping countries

Inte

rne

t H

os

ts (

mill

ion

s)

Connectivity

Jan 2000: 72.4 m Internet Hosts

30 m (70%)

11 m (26%)

1.5 m (4%)(the first ten countries amount for 1.2 m)

Other dimensions of the Divide

Information Infrstructure Investments, 1991 - 1998

0

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

700,000

1991-1994 1995-1998

US

$ M

illio

ns

OECD

Sub-Saharan Africa

Middle East/North Africa

Latin America

Eastern Europe

Asia Pacific

Cross-Country Inequality: Information Infrastructure Investments Skewed toward Rich Countries

The US broadband revolution

Adopter Countries’ broadband revolution

Nati

onal In

form

ati

on Infr

ast

ruct

ure

(s

cope a

nd

qualit

y)

Time

Conve

rgen

ce

LatecomersDivergence

The Promise and Peril of the Networking Revolution

Source: Pyramid Research, 2000

Closing the Digital Divide:A Four-Part Program

Support Competition and Privatization Policies (e.g., regulatory reform)

Facilitate Infrastructure Financing by the Private Sector

Invest in Digital Literacy and E-government

Launch, Test and Mainstream Successful Pilot Projects: Digital Opportunities

www.developmentgateway.org

Development Gateway

Value Proposition of the Portal

Solving development problems by sharing high-quality information from local, national and global sources, tailored to users’ needs -- by topic and community

Providing a platform for establishing common standards for the exchange of information within the development community

Expanding opportunities for building and sharing knowledge and experience -- in and among developing countries

Accessible Information on Development Activities

Foreign Direct Investment Page

E-government page

Algeria

Pakistan

Bulgaria

GeorgiaRomania

Dominican Republic

Indonesia

infoDev Country Gateway Grants

Colombia

Russia

West Bank & Gaza

ArmeniaAzerbaijan

China

Ukraine

Kyrgyz Rep.Moldova

Nicaragua Venezuela

Sri Lanka

Kazakhstan

Croatia Uzbekistan

Uruguay

Mongolia

Namibia

Rwanda*

JamaicaEl Salvador Costa Rica India

TajikistanPoland

infoDev is providing seed funding to initiate Country Gateways: Allocated US$1.8 million to date Grants of up to US$100,000 71 proposals received from 51 countries 32 fundedAdditional countries that are currently preparing a country gateway proposal to infoDev: Argentina, Bangladesh, Chile, Mauritania, Niger, Peru, Zambia* Countries designated as least developed by the United Nations

UNDP jointly supporting United Nations Partnership Manager

UNICEF, UNIFEM, UNAIDS, UNESCO, WHO, FAO among content sources

Netaid partnership on “Taking Action” Portal UNCTAD partnership on the Foreign Direct

Investment Page Discussions underway with ITC, UN-ECLAC,

and WHO UNDP support for Country Gateways

Partnerships--UN System Collaborators

Development Gateway Foundation Promote development of active networks of

experts on ICT for development; strengthen capacity for delivering projects; help narrow the digital divide

Establish a research and training center in the developing world to develop and test programs

Provide seed funding for local, national, regional, and global projects and programs

For more information

www.developmentgateway.org