Australian Development Gateway

The Australian Development Gateway (ADG) strives to support members of the development community in their efforts to reduce poverty and enhance sustainable development in the Asia Pacific region. The site has been created with participation from members of government, private, academia and non-government organisations. User feedback mechanisms have been incorporated to guide future directions of the site. The site is optimised for low bandwidth access to enable the widest participation throughout the Asia Pacific region.

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Digital divide & challenges to implementation

Who benefits from the digital divide?

This article argues that the promotion of the digital divide as a policy issue benefits four major groups: information capital, developing country governments, the development industry, and global civil society.

New information and communication technologies are seen as a potent source of advancement for many countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America and have increasingly featured as topics of discussion in international fora. Who benefits from the rapid rise of this issue on the international agenda?

Issues covered in this article include:

- Information capital - the quest for labour and new markets
- The south - the state, ruling elites, and the middle class
- The development community - the quest for a renewed sense of legitimacy and meaning
- Civil society - the quest for social change and the tools to achieve it

 

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