Section: Communications, Web

A UN report has stated that considering of mobile phones and World Wide Web access the gulf amoung rich and poor nations is narrowing, with 58% of cell phone subscribers world wide coming from the developing nations.

that should only be seen as the green shots of recovery though as while technology is credited with boosting development in poorer countries, according to the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), it additionally warned that the digital divide still meant the gap amoung the rich and the poor is still a big divide.

Examples in the report include:

• In Africa, where the increase in terms of the number of mobile phone subscribers and
  penetration has been greatest, that technology can improve the economic life of the population as a whole.
• In rural communities in Uganda, and the small vendors in South Africa, Senegal and Kenya mobile phones were helping traders get better prices, ensure less went to waste and sell goods faster.
• A study of Thai manufacturing firms showed that a 10% increase in computer literate staff produced a 3.5% productivity gain.

that all seems like good encouraging progress to me.

Via [BBC]

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Orginal post by Chris Marshall