Greeting by Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori to the First Meeting of the Digital Opportunity Taskforce (dot force)
(Provisional)

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules and coming from around the world to attend the first meeting of the Digital Opportunity Taskforce (dot force), today.

The dot force represents a new undertaking towards the development of information and communications society in the 21st century, based on the 'Okinawa Charter on Global Information Society,' adopted at the Kyushu-Okinawa Summit in July. It is a tremendous honour for me, as Chair of the Summit, that the first meeting of the dot force is being convened today, with the participation of you all who are performing a most important role on the cutting-edge of Information and Communications Technology (IT).

At the Kyushu-Okinawa Summit, the G8 Leaders identified IT as "one of the most potent forces in shaping the 21st century." There is, therefore, a common recognition that IT is fast becoming a vital engine of growth for the world economy. All countries, including Japan, have identified IT as an important national policy issue and are taking active measures accordingly. In fact, before coming to this gathering today, I attended a joint meeting of the IT Strategy Council and the IT Strategy Headquarters. The meeting represents a forum for discussion on Japan's domestic measures, where I was involved in a variety of discussions on Japan's basic IT strategy.

The strength of IT in reforming social structure is so strong that not only does it have a positive influence on society, but it may also impose certain negative influences. However, in facing new challenges that IT casts before us, we should not construe the dissemination and development of IT negatively. On the contrary, by capturing the possibilities provided by IT in a 'big picture', it is incumbent upon us to conceive policies through which people can feel that IT is accessible, and whereby technology can be actively applied for self-improvement and the betterment of the whole society.

This represents the essence of what the Okinawa Charter is aiming for, and it was based on this concept that the dot force was first proposed.

One of the main aims of the dot force among all the challenges that IT presents, is to tackle the issue of digital divide that exists between developed and developing countries. Above all, bridging the digital divide means the pursuit of the principle that "everyone should be enabled to participate in the benefits of the global information society." Due to the characteristics of IT, the greater the participation in the information society, the greater the benefits and the speedier the growth, which is naturally of significance for not only developing countries but all countries of the world.

While there is no cure-all for bridging the international digital divide, there is no doubt that it is of the utmost importance for all stakeholders, including developing countries, to co-operate closely. It was on such a concept that the dot force was founded and through which its activities are planned to be conducted.

Already, government and private sector efforts are underway on a variety of levels, aimed at bridging the digital divide. For example, one of Japan's efforts to bridge the international divide was its announcement prior to the Kyushu-Okinawa Summit of a comprehensive co-operation package totalling around US$15 billion over the course of five years. Policy dialogue missions have already been dispatched to this end. I have recently returned form a series of leaders' meetings held in Singapore, and there too, IT was cited as a policy area of over-arching importance, and all the leaders agreed that co-operation in the field of IT should be further promoted.

The dot force is expected to investigate the best methods of ensuring the participation of all stakeholders in the IT opportunity. At this meeting, in addition to representatives from G8 governments and the private sector, and international organisations, I would like to extend a special welcome to the representatives of developing countries. I would make a request to you all that through your co-operation, we will be able to put together a substantial proposal with a specific plan of action, by the time of the next Summit in Genoa in 2001.

I would like to conclude by expressing my hope that active discussions to take place over the course of the next two days will represent a significant step towards bridging the international digital divide.

Thank you very much.

(end)