I desperately attempt to stay politically neutral when it comes to researching and defining the digital divide...but today's story,
United Nations Ponders Nets Future encouraged me to watch my blood pressure, take a deep breath, and ask who do these people think they are?
Certainly, the Internet is dominated by a few technologically advanced players across the globe (USA, Canada, Japan, and the countries in Western Europe). These are also the players who pay the majority of the bill to keep the Net up and running.
So, what is this all about? Is is about the UN's version of the "Digital Divide"...the big difference between the traditionally defined technology gap and the UN's version is where the "digit" part goes on the bottom line of their financial reports!
Advantages of allowing the UN to "manage" the Internet?
It will be run by the world's largest bureaucracy
The technologically advanced nations will get to foot the bill for more repressive regimes to censor Internet activity.
There is an implication that developed nations will rush to do e-commerce with underdeveloped countries
A political organization will be taking on a business that it has absolutely NO clue how to manage
Final score: Dragon 4, UN 0
The bottom line here is that the UN has much bigger concerns to deal with than worrying about whether a basket weaver in a Brazian rainforest has a domain name and an Internet connection. That is not to deny the fact that there is truly a "digital divide" between most Americans and the basketweaver. When it comes to Maslow's triangle, however, the Internet wil not solve the problems of developing nations who lack even the basic resources to sustain a population's basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter.
Maybe a campaign to improve ITC within the UN would be a start. I can package up two tin cans and some string to get things going...but then, it becomes a UN management issue.
