An Effective Global Information Society?

This document, The Declaration of Principles, which was created at the World Summit on Information Technologies is a broad-reaching, enthusiastic proclamation for the betterment of the world through the advancement of technological abilities. Their goals are, “to harness the potential of information and communication technology to promote the development goals of the Millennium Declaration, namely the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger; achievement of universal primary education; promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women; reduction of child mortality; improvement of maternal health; to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensuring environmental sustainability; and development of global partnerships for development for the attainment of a more peaceful, just and prosperous world.” This is extremely ambitious and quite a large undertaking. Their purpose is to use technology and information to fix all the problems of the world. However, I feel that the most important problem that this summit can actually correct is the development of global partnerships that would in turn mutually benefit many nations. By developing faster, and more efficient technologies, communication can flow more easily from nation to nation and person to person. Through the sharing of ideas and resources, it is possible to create a more unified, peaceful, and prosperous world.

The biggest obstacle to the goals that the global information society wishes to accomplish is the vast difference in capabilities between the leading countries of the world, and those stricken by poverty, disease, corruption, and weak economic positions. How do you possibly compare the technological capabilities between the 3^rd world and other countries? Without funneling abundant resources to the areas that need it most, it is impossible to create a global network that functions as a whole.

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