GAZA - The Vice-Chair of the United Nations Information and Communication Technologies Task Force (UN ICT TF) Mr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, has emphasized that the digital gap is not only a technical problem but also a human social problem that has to do with education and infrastructure. He stated that it forms a multi-faceted challenge that should be overcome, pointing out that these challenges require dealing with a wide series of technical and social goals to grant people power with information that will enable them to determine their futures.
This came during a session convened by the taskforce under his chairmanship on surpassing the digital divide, which was entitled “Education in the Information Era”. This was one of the sessions held during the conference on IT and communications in the Arab world and currently being convened in Cairo under the patronage of the Prime Minister Dr. Atef Obeid.
Abu-Ghazaleh said: “Since I work in the Arab world, I’m aware of the issues that need to be researched in order to surpass the digital gap. This demands economic and structural reforms over a broad range; it requires the development of the infrastructure with education at its forefront.”
He also called for the necessity of a multi-faceted strategy to address all aspects of the problem which is based on wide participation, including that of multilateral international agencies, governments, NGOs and the private sector, where the role of each of these parties is defined.
Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh – who also chairs the ICC Commission on E-Business, Information Technologies and Telecoms - clarified that all international development organizations have adopted this strategy. He further added that the UN Secretary-General assigned the UN ICT TF not to initiate projects but rather to administer the complete adherence of the UN toward its member-states in order to transcend the digital divide.
He stated: “The World Bank – as an organization that initiates projects and grants financing at the global level- has realized that contrary to most sectors, information and communications technologies have broad implications in all aspects that the World Bank focuses on.”
The conference itself addressed the urgent issues in the ICT field, including the methods in which IT affects the administration and structure of small and medium-sized establishments and the ways in which IT can affect the efficiency of a company.
It is noted that eminent Arab and international persons are participating in the conference, which is being organized by the Egypt International Economic Forum under the chairmanship of Dr. Shafiq Jabr.
These include Ahmad Nazief, the Minister of Information and Communication Technologies (Egypt), Dr. Yousef Boutros Ghali, the Egyptian Minister of External Trade, and Dr. Ahmad Jweili, the Secretary-General for the Arab Economic Unit Council (of the Arab League), in addition to many ministers of communication in the Arab world.