The digital revolution in information and communication technologies has created the platform for a free flow of information, ideas and knowledge across the globe. This revolution has made a profound impression on the way the world functions. The Internet has become an important global resource, a resource that is critical to both the developed world as a business and social tool and the developing world as a passport to equitable participation, as well as economic, social and educational development. The purpose of the World Summit on the Information Society is to ensure that these benefits are accessible to all while promoting specific advantages in areas such as e-strategies, e-commerce, e-governance, e-health, education, literacy, cultural diversity, gender equality, sustainable development and environmental protection. At WSIS Geneva in December 2003, World leaders declared “our common desire and commitment to build a people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented Information Society, where everyone can create, access, utilize and share information and knowledge, enabling individuals, communities and peoples to achieve their full potential in promoting their sustainable development and improving their quality of life, premised on the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and respecting fully and upholding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Internet Governance Forum – USA Speech by Lee Rainie Director, Pew Internet & American Life Project October 2, 2009   “The Unfinished Symphony:  What we don’t know about the future of the internet”      It is an honor for me to be invited to give this address and I’d like especially to thank Marilyn Cade and my friend and colleague Janna Anderson for believing that the work of the Pew Internet & American Life Project had a place at such an important gathering.    I want to highlight four major areas of uncertainty whose resolution will shape the future of the internet.    The first area of critical uncertainty involves the kind of internet we have – from the standpoint of the internet’s architecture and its adoption.    The second involves what kind of information policies we have – that is, the kind of rules we develop about information property such as copyright, patents, and trademarks and the marketplace norms that apply to property.    The third involves the kind of policies and norms we develop about our online identities – specifically, the policies and practices we construct about online privacy, anonymity, and surveillance.    The fourth area of uncertainty is that we do not yet know the full impact of the internet when it comes to economic, medical, social, and political outcomes. The social science community is just beginning to tackle issues related to the value of the internet – both good and bad – in empirical terms.     Some aspects of the future of the internet are pretty clear: In the next decade or so, the computing power at our disposal will be more than 20 times greater than it is now and considerably cheaper if Moore’s law continues hold. Furthermore, our ability to pack lots more data into hard drives will keep pace.    This will bring more people and more things tied together in the networked world. We’ll be wearing devices on our bodies or carrying them in our pockets that will “talk” to devices in the environment. Chips embedded in our cars, our household furnishings, the soil, will feed data to each other and help us figure out how to skirt traffic jams, when to water our flowerbeds, and even when the pizza delivery van has pulled up to our house.    In addition, technologists will continue to make major advances in how quickly and efficiently digital material can be moved around wires and wirelessly. There will be a “broadband tsunami.” Still, in the midst of these certain changes, there are two public policy areas where the outcome will determine how widely that tsunami washes over things.       The first and most immediate issue relates to broadband deployment: In a survey we at Pew Internet just completed on September 14, we found that 77% of American adults use the internet and 63% of American adults have broadband access at home. Technologists like to quote the aphorism that the future is already here, but it is unevenly distributed. Our data show that even the present is unevenly distributed. 

The rapid growth of Information and Communication Technologies and innovation in digital systems represent a revolution that has fundamentally changed the way people think, behave, communicate, work and earn their livelihood. This so-called digital revolution has forged new ways to create knowledge, educate people and disseminate information. It has restructured the way the world conducts economic and business practices, runs governments and engages politically. It has provided for the speedy delivery of humanitarian aid and healthcare, and a new vision for environmental protection. It has even created new avenues for entertainment and leisure. As access to information and knowledge is a prerequisite to achieving the Millennium Development Goals – or MDGs – it has the capacity to improve living standards for millions of people around the world. Moreover, better communication between peoples helps resolve conflicts and attain world peace.   

The Digital Divide separates those who are connected to the digital revolution in ICTs and those who have no access to the benefits of the new technologies. This happens across international frontiers as well as within communities where people are separated by economic and knowledge barriers. At WSIS Geneva, world leaders declared “We are fully committed to turning this digital divide into a digital opportunity for all, particularly for those who risk being left behind and being further marginalized.”