Global Domain Name and Internet Policy News
Many young people have embraced the convenience of digital technologies such as online shopping, car hailing, digital payments, and telemedicine. But many elderly without a grasp of the latest knowledge are at risk of being left behind.
The Biden administration’s agenda, already focused on the coronavirus, will face immediate pressure to address a related tech issue: access to home broadband that has become essential to continuing work, school and other important activities during the pandemic.
While virtually all urban areas in the world are covered by a mobile-broadband network, worrying gaps in connectivity and Internet access persist in rural areas, according to Measuring Digital Development: Facts and figures 2020, a new report launched today by the International Telecommunication Union. This matters even more due to the COVID-19 crisis.
[news release] Improved Internet connectivity and skills have helped many countries to cope with the health and economic crisis from COVID-19. Yet the pandemic has raised the bar for the digital transition and underscores the need to close the digital divides that risk leaving some people and firms worse off than others in a post-COVID world, according to a new OECD report.
[news release] Never before has the Internet proven to be such a vital lifeline in maintaining economic and social ties, as the world is battling the COVID-19 pandemic. The high-level segment of the Internet Governance Forum opened today, with participants underlining the critical importance of digital technologies in supporting human resilience and building solidarity to respond to the challenges posed by the coronavirus.
Universal broadband access is the vital catalyst needed to drive global economic recovery and accelerate lacklustre progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals, according to a new report released by the UN Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development.
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has published Connecting Humanity – Assessing investment needs of connecting humanity to the Internet by 2030, a comprehensive new study that estimates the investment needed to achieve universal, affordable broadband connectivity for all humanity by the end of this decade.
In response to internet censorship by governments across the continent, Africans have turned to technologies of freedom to access blocked content online.
Women, ICT and Emergency Telecommunications: Opportunities and Constraints, a new report from ITU and the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC), highlights that equal access to information and communication technology (ICT) can save lives in emergencies, including during pandemics. Conversely, the digital gender divide is blocking women from becoming equal stakeholders in society, putting entire communities at greater risk during emergencies.
Continue reading “New UN report shows closing the gender divide can save lives in emergencies, including pandemics”
Richard Devitt, an 86-year-old retired restauranteur living in Massachusetts, doesn’t have an email account and still uses a flip phone. “I honestly don’t need or want them,” he said about smartphones and social media. The fact that attending church services, birthday parties, and even medical appointments now requires logging in online hasn’t changed his mind.