Poor Countries Must Not Be Left Behind in Technological Growth

It is ironical that the telephone, the internet and other communication technologies we think help to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor, could widen it. This is because issues of cost and access will continue to create groups of info-rich and info-poor people. Considering that better prospects for economic activity take place in the realms of information, knowledge and communication in general, people who cannot afford them certainly lose out.There is a disparity in access between the developed and the developing worlds, and even within these countries themselves. In the US, for instance, the land of opportunity, only 57 per cent of African-Americans get to go online, compared to 70 per cent access in the case of whites.But while your race or income determines whether or not you will use communication technologies in the West, in the poor countries, it is largely where you live that dictates if you will log on or continue to stay offline.
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