Digital Dividend

This initiative used information and communication technology (ICT) to engage individuals around the world in reflection and dialogue about the "digital divide", encouraging them to ask questions such as: "Can ICTs help reduce poverty, create jobs, generate income and add value to livelihoods? Or do they just widen existing disparities in society? Are development donors wasting aid money on ICT projects that are never scaled up?" Citizens worldwide were asked to participate by emailing questions to the Moderator prior to the debate date (September 30 2005, at the International Telecommunication Union Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland). Organisers stressed that "Anyone anywhere on the planet can send in questions to the debate - the best ones will be selected by the producers and posed to the panel that will have representatives from governments, civil society, United Nations and the private sector."

The selected questions were then addressed during a high-level debate that involved 30 participants "representing all sides of the ICT universe" engaging in a 120-minute discussion of strategies for securing a digital dividend for the economically poor. Topics covered included: bridging the knowledge gap; why investment in ICTs are so low on the international agenda; contribution of the private sector vis-à-vis government; ICTs as a tool for education; neglect of the traditional communications technologies (e.g., radio); lack of energy as a main barrier to the spread of ICTs; ICTs for human rights and free expression; and outlook for what WSIS II would achieve.

An edited version of the debate, with video inserts illustrating the themes tackled by the participants, was broadcast initially on BBC World Television on October 22 and 23 2005, and then through Eurovision's world feed on November 14 2005. (Local times were listed on the BBC World website). The debate was then offered to the 300 members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) as well as other broadcasters around the world. Click here to view the video of the panel debate.

According to organisers, some hold that ICTs could provide a "fast track" out of poverty, thereby helping to meet Millennium Development Goal #1. Others take the view that the economically poor need the basics (health facilities, roads, schools, food security, and so on) before computers and mobile phones. In short: How should we allocate development assistance funds? This was one of the core questions broached at the second and final leg of WSIS in Tunis, and addressed through the Digital Dividend initiative.