From the United Nations... I haven't found the actual report yet,
though. The link in the press release leads to another press release,
and the link to the report there appears to be dead. -ac
'Knowledge divide' must be narrowed through education – UNESCO
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=16455&Cr=information&Cr1=summit
3 November 2005 – With 90 per cent of all Internet users living in
developed countries, governments must narrow the gap between North and
South by expanding quality education for all, increasing community
access to information and communication technology, and sharing
scientific knowledge across borders, a United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) report released today says.
The report, "Towards Knowledge Societies," launched today on the eve
of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), analyses the
increasingly important role played by knowledge in economic growth and
advances that it can serve as a new springboard for development in the
countries of the South.
"Those countries and communities that don't recognize this huge
reliance on knowledge as a driving force will be left behind," Elizabeth
Longworth, Director of UNESCO's Information Society Division, told a
press conference at UN Headquarters in New York.
She added that those countries and communities that recognize the
importance of cognitive skills and make the resulting investment in
education, lifelong learning and cultural facilities and in their
research and innovation systems will prosper.
Knowledge societies contribute to the well-being of individuals and
communities, and encompass social, ethical and political dimensions
while information societies are based on technological breakthroughs
that risk providing little more than "a mass of indistinct data" for
those who don't have the skills to benefit from it, according to the report.
An example of a successful "knowledge society" is Singapore, which
started out as a developing country of shantytowns at independence and
achieved economic growth rates that surpass those of most industrialized
nations in just four decades by promoting education and creativity.
The work is the first in a new series of UNESCO reports, to be
published every two years, focusing on subjects at the heart of the
Organization's mission such as cultural diversity and sustainable
development.
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Andy Carvin
Program Director
EDC Center for Media & Community
acarvin @ edc . org
http://www.digitaldivide.net
http://katrina05.blogspot.com
Blog: http://www.andycarvin.com
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