Discussion

Mr. Ishikawa began the discussion by noting that, based on the presentations of the session, several points were worth mentioning. He stressed the point made by Prof. Coelho concerning the three pillars approach: government, citizens and industry. He also mentioned the importance of Ms. Yamada's presentation concerning the inclusion of elderly people in the digital opportunity, and highlighted the points made by Dr. Choi concerning the empowerment of women in the IT opportunity.

In addition, in relation to Dr. Jung's presentation concerning education, Mr. Ishikawa noted that in the Digital Opportunity Taskforce (dot force), many people were talking about the positive effects of IT in education. He praised the initiative underway in Korea, introduced by Dr. Jung, which gives study opportunities to people who have already left the formal education system.

Mr. Ishikawa also pointed out that one of the problems of the Internet, the preponderance of English content, had also been highlighted by Dr. Panthawi. In this context, he emphasized the importance of local technology and content, citing the example of Japan where mobile Internet use, i-Mode, is growing explosively. He reiterated Dr. Panthawi's comment that telephone charges are a significant barrier to Internet use in developing countries. He then opened the floor for free discussions.

Mr. Lindroos from Finland asked a question to Dr. Jung about the standards of the cyber universities and how she expected graduates from the cyber universities to be accepted by the labor market.

Dr. Jung responded by noting that the issue is not likely to arise for one or two years until the first graduating class leaves the cyber universities, but the government is researching the means of offering support to cyber students and is encouraging cyber universities to offer quality programs. She explained that the government sets accreditation criteria, which provide a minimum quality assurance system. She added that most cyber universities are a consortium of conventional universities, and are therefore equipped to offer quality services to students. She noted that concrete answers would be available in one or two years when the first graduates were produced.

Mrs. Birkett from the European Commission, asked Dr. Panthawi a question concerning the SchoolNet 1509 project in Thailand. She asked about the magnitude of support for free telephone lines to enable remote areas in Thailand to gain access to the Internet, and how sustainable that particular project was into the future.

Dr. Panthawi responded that the Communication Authority and Telephone Authority of Thailand were currently sponsoring the project. She explained that bandwidth was provided by these organizations, both of which are monopolies at the moment, but that situation was expected to change in the future, and so changes might be expected. She added that there are 18 ISPs in Thailand in every province of Thailand now, and if the situation of free Internet access were to change, schools could now find a local service provider at a relatively low cost.

Mr. Ishikawa explained that he had headed a delegation to Thailand last year, and that in his understanding, the funding for the SchoolNet was initially very difficult to procure, but that the SchoolNet project was eventually established by NECTEC as a flagship project for the importance of IT for Thailand. He added that the Government of Japan is keen to support such projects as SchoolNet, pointing out that such projects were important in gaining the understanding and support of the taxpayers who finance such project.

Dr. Choi asked about the EC's international collaboration in Internet projects from a social aspect. She suggested that the social aspect of collaboration could provide the greatest obstacles to coordination of projects and asked what projects the EC envisioned concerning collaborative projects.

Mrs. Birkett explained that cutting across cultural boundaries was very difficult within the 15 countries of the EU and, that when it came to the business-to-business sector, it was even more difficult in crossing cultural barriers to collaboration. She added that over the years, however, the EC has been building up expertise in this area, with some projects being set up with third-country participation. She stressed the importance of finding incentives to cross cultural and national boundaries, and commended research in this area that helped to bridge cultural barriers. She added that there were other supplementary community programs aimed at mitigating cultural differences, including the ERASMUS scheme, which enables student of the EU to study in other EU countries.

Prof. Coelho noted that the question of bridging the digital divide was a pressing issue and efforts had to be made to bridge the divide in the countries of the EU. He went on to argue that policy-making was essential, but further efforts were required to narrow the digital divide. He mentioned also that there were several programs within the EU aimed at bridging the digital divide, including one designed to integrate Mediterranean countries into the information society. He noted, however, that he was currently unaware of any programs run by the EU aimed at bridging the digital divide and integrating society into the information age in Africa or Asia. Prof. Coelho concluded that two different types of digital divide can be found within the EU: the first type based on social and economic differences; the second type based on peoples with special needs, including people with disabilities and the elderly. He pointed out that while a number of initiatives had been implemented aimed at bridging the digital divide, more needed to be done in this regard.

In response to a question from Ms. Belleflamme, concerning general trends in the promotion of the digital opportunity and whether the information society would exacerbate current social divisions, Dr. Jung noted that in the field of education, drop-out rates for students with lower IT ability exceeded drop-out rates for students with more experience in using IT.

Prof. Coelho stated that IT was a powerful tool in bridging the digital divide, but he believed it would only be effective if properly used.

Dr. Choi noted that in the transition of Eastern European countries, economic growth had first dipped before recovering again. She added that this was the case when attempting to bridge the digital divide and that it was important for decision makers in each country to make a structured commitment.

Ms. Yamada noted that she had been involved with senior citizens for ten years. She noted that the situation of the elderly in relation to the digital divide depended highly on the environment and infrastructure and the opportunities provided, as most elderly people are unfamiliar with IT and need encouragement and guidance. She urged the need for a mechanism to empower the elderly and so bridge the digital divide.

Mr. Ishikawa suggested that the Secretariat could distribute copies of the Okinawa Charter on Global Information Society as a reference for all participants. He quoted a few sentences from the Charter: "Information and Communications Technology (IT) is one of the most potent forces in shaping the twenty-first century. Its revolutionary impact affects the way people live, learn and work and the way government interacts with civil society. IT is fast becoming a vital engine of growth for the world economy. It is also enabling many enterprising individuals, firms and communities, in all parts of the globe, to address economic and social challenges with greater efficiency and imagination. Enormous opportunities are there to be seized and shared by us all."

Mrs. Birkett stated her interest in the Japanese government's US$15 billion project and asked what the Government of Japan were expecting to spend that sum of money on.

Mr. Ishikawa responded by noting that Japan was the Chair of the G8 in 2000, and therefore took the lead in bridging the digital divide and so launched the US$15 billion initiative, affirming that the project was aimed over a five-year period. He added that Japan was by no means the only leader in the IT sector in Asia, and Japan had also pushed the initiative on the domestic level, in the belief that Japan shared some of the problems faced by other countries in Asia, such as the predominance of English content on the Internet.

Mr. Ishikawa recounted how, on a recent visit to Asia, he heard requests by some countries for Japan to create technologies to translate Internet pages into Asian languages other than Japanese. He added that requests had been made for human resources development and national plans for initiatives that have already been launched. He emphasized that Japan was aware that each country should take the lead in its own policies.

Mr. Ishikawa stressed that the US$15 billion package would be used to support active commitments, ownership and political leadership of IT goals of each country. He then stated the need for three pillars in IT policy: people, goods and activities. With regard to people, he stressed the need for targeted education in IT for all people and policymakers alike. With reference to IT goods, Mr. Ishikawa pointed out that there was a need for the private sector to lead activities in IT development, but that in some countries the private sector could be reluctant to invest, and it was then incumbent on government or ODA from other countries to provide the infrastructure which would make private sector intervention an attractive option.

With regard to the third pillar of concrete activities, Mr. Ishikawa noted that the support of e-government and the application of IT to social services were foremost considerations, remote education and remote medication being examples of concrete activities whereby IT and the Internet could be utilized to exert a positive influence. He added that rather than killing local culture and tradition, IT could be successful in bringing cultures closer together and enhancing mutual understanding between far flung corners of the globe. He stated that the Japanese government hoped to enhance this process, through the initiation of such endeavors as the creation of digital archives to preserve intangible cultural heritage, among others.

Mr. Ishikawa noted that with the three pillars of people, goods and activities, economic vitality could be boosted through IT, in addition to the encouragement of intercommunication, exchange and cultural diversity. He added that Japan's concept was that if every small country could launch IT concepts in a proactive manner, it would provide many bridges aimed at closing the digital divide. He acknowledged that many gaps still exist, but the US$15 billion provided by Japan would go some way to bridging these gaps.

Mr. Wijers of the Netherlands asked a question to Dr. Jung concerning the lifelong learning initiative in Korea and the potential for blue-collar workers returning to education in order to gain qualifications to become white-collar workers.

Dr. Jung responded that the technical universities of Korea provide programs for blue-collar workers, most of which are based on the Internet or video learning.