Donyaprueth Krairit, Ph.D.

My first impression on the WSIS was the fact that the UN, as an organizer, did a great job in bringing together leaders from all over the world to present their perception on the importance and roles of the information society in the future.

Despite all the government leaders' nice words and claims of understanding, and, in some cases, claims of even being able to "solve" the "digital divide" problem, I found that most of their speeches were quite diplomatic yet empty in bringing up necessary issues related to the theme of the Summit. Unfortunately, I also found that leaders from both developed and developing countries still lack the "right" understanding of the issue. None of the leaders committed to specific initiatives or plans that aimed to bridge the digital divide. In other words, to me it was almost like watching several election campaigns and speeches being repeated over again and again without any specific proposals or stances.

In addition, I found that the main theme of the Summit, the issue of digital divide itself, was surpassed by other major issues such as the Internet governance and freedom of expression. By having many themes of such important issues all going on at the same time, it is more often than not that no concrete results or conclusions will come out of any major issues, if at all. Had the Summit been more focused, I would have expected that it could bring about more impacts and actions. It is the nature of the government of any countries to not commit on anything unless they really have to. By covering so many important issues during the Summit, the governments were given the opportunity to get away without any strong commitments.

On the academic front, many studies related to the digital divide implementation have been conducted. Almost all of them showed that simply putting Internet access and hi-tech computers into the hands of the under-privileged people, those that do not have sufficient skills and awareness of the importance of the technology, did not create significant usage impacts. On the other hand, projects that started with good training and planning proved to be more sustainable and productive in the long run. India's case of "a slum in a hole" and ongoing government campaigns in several countries, including in Thailand, my home country, on expanding Internet access to every sub-province, are examples of good intentions that turned into a waste of resources. This is because the government lacked fundamental understanding of the digital divide issue, which finally led to a flawed implementation plan.

Coming back from the U.S. to a developing country like Thailand, I was reminded many times of what my thesis advisor, Prof. Kenneth Keniston of the Technology and Society Program at MIT, said to me, that the digital divide exists not in only one dimension. While most people think of digital divide as the problem of access, the issue itself encompasses much more than that. It also covers the problems of literacy, usage, contents, and social barriers. What good does a computer and Internet access do if users are illiterate or unable to gain skills that could make the Internet useful for them?

Investing in technology is certainly one necessary factor but it is neither the only factor nor the preliminary driving factor to bridge the digital divide. Having the technology to access Internet is secondary to training and showing unskilled users of what they can do with the Internet. In other words, knowledge and skills are clearly the prerequisites for using the Internet technologies. Even though this logic sounds intuitive to planners and policy makers, it is one of the most overlooked issues when it comes to the implementation phase.

I agreed with many other academicians, including Mark Warschauer, and the UK's Associated Press, who states that the digital divide issue needs to be clarified, refined, and re-conceptualized. The many dimensions of digital divide need to be considered altogether when it comes to taking initiatives and implementation.

In addition to considering other aspects of the digital divide issue, I would like to add and reiterate my point that strong commitment from the government is needed. Until and unless such support is provided to the under-privileged and unskilled groups as a priority, the issue of digital divide will still exist and will get even worse, not so much at the international level as commonly expected, but more within the nation itself.

Donyaprueth Krairit, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
School of Management
Asian Institute of Technology (AIT)
Pathumthani, 12120
THAILAND
E-mail: donya@ait.ac.th, donya@alum.mit.edu
Postal Address: P.O Box 4, Klong Luang
Pathumthani, 12120
THAILAND