Share Information Resources To Bridge the Digital Divide By Yan Baoping, Director of the CNNIC, Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai, May the 25 th, 2001 Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, Good morning (afternoon, evening). It is quite a pleasure for me to take this opportunity to meet here in Shanghai with the mayors, chief information officers, specially invited observers and representatives from the IT sector of the Asia-Pacific region to discuss the common issues concerning the information era and the promotion of informatization, especially the issue of bridging the digital divide. Having seen the remarkable results yielded by the first high-level forum on city informatization in the Asia-Pacific region last year, I am confident that this year the forum will also be productive and fruitful. -1-
Today I will mainly talk about the significance and impact of the sharing of information resources with regard to the bridging of the digital divide. According to a popular opinion, the so-called digital divide refers to the divide between the information haves and have-nots. It is not only seen between the developed and developing countries, but also may be seen between different regions, the rural and the urban area, and even groups with different levels of education and income of the same country. Internationally, the developed countries with only 16% of the world population now have 90% of the world network hosts. New York alone has more hosts than the African continent as a whole. Of the 332 million network users, Africa only accounts for 1%. As regards the computers connected to the Internet, the developing nations only have less than 5% of the world total. It can be said that the divide between the developed and developing countries are now enlarging, contributing a lot to the gradual widening of the economic gap between the North and the South. -2-
Since reform and opening-up about 20 years ago, the IT industry in China has been growing at a spectacular rate that is rare in the world. However, due to the large population base and the backwardness in its science, technology and socio-economic development, China still suffers from a significant digital divide between itself and the developed countries such as the U.S. in terms of computer and network accessibility. For example, on average, every 113 people have a computer in China while in the U.S. every two people have one. In March 2001, the users of the Internet in China were 26 million, only less than 2% of the total population. In contrast, that of the U.S. had already reached 137 million by July 2000, taking up almost half of the total U.S. population. Domestically, Beijing alone has taken up 38.87% of the registered domain names of the country while most of the provinces in western and central China have only less than 1% each. Meanwhile, Internet users in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou have accounted for 62.33% of the country s total while that of the last ten provinces in terms of Internet access as a whole only account for 4.36%. On the whole, western region is also lagging far behind the coastal region in terms of informatization. -3-
It can be seen from above that at present, the digital divide within China is taking shape while the divide between China and the developed countries is getting widening. President Jiang Zemin once pointed out in his speech at the UN Millennium Summit that the rapid development of science and technology has become a new motivating force to create wealth. The digital divide, which is getting wider, shows that there is a huge gap between developed and developing countries in terms of the level of science and technology. It is bound to further widen the gap between the rich North and the poor South. Advanced science and technology which crystallizes human wisdom and creative spirit, should be used throughout the world in promoting peace and development, and benefiting people of various countries. Here he clearly pointed out that the digital divide had become the key point in the bridging of the North-South gap and the narrowing of the gap between China and the western countries in this IT era. So, how can we bridge this digital divide? In my opinion, the sharing of global information resources is a key step towards this goal. -4-
Information resources can be shared. Information as a resource has many features that are distinct from other material resources. Among them, the most significant one is that it can be shared. Information resources can be copied completely and indistinctively at a very low cost, which not only means that the sharing of information resources is cheap (compared with the value of the information itself, the cost of information sharing is so small that it can virtually be neglected.) and easy, but also means that the copies of information resources are not inferior to the source information in terms of quality and function. Besides, information sharing does not constitute any harm to the source information (confidential information exclusive): when sharing his information with others, the information possessor does not need to sacrifice his own interests. Therefore, it can be said that information is a very special resource and can be shared by nature. Meanwhile, information sharing is usually a two-way process, with the information provider being the information receiver at the same time. Information as a resource can be exchanged, which makes it appreciate in value during the exchange, and ultimately, bring -5-
maximum benefit to all the participants of the information sharing process. Therefore, information sharing can become a true win-win game. It is just under the spirit of the Internet to exchange and communicate that Linux, an open operating system, has become such a success. Another feature of information as a resource is that it can be used in many ways. The same information can play different roles at different occasions. The remote sensing satellite data, for example, is of great use in geology, environmental protection, meteorology, and military fields. Usually, people obtain information only for one set purpose in the outset; later, however, the information may be found useful in many ways and for multi-purposes. More information and ways of application may be found during the sharing of information and thus the value of the information will appreciate significantly. It is obvious that information sharing, which can be practiced by nature and can bring enormous benefit, should be promoted. It is not only feasible but also necessary. Global information sharing is technically feasible -6-
Information sharing is not new to mankind; however, it is only the leaps and bounds in the development of communication and network technologies at the end of the 20 th century that have made global information sharing a feasible concept. In recent years, optical fiber communication has been developed at such a quick pace that the bandwidth is doubled every half a year, laying the foundation for the construction of the broadband network. DWDM technology using one piece of optical fiber to transmit multiple waves has become an important means of high-capacity transmission. Meanwhile, the eye-catching development of satellite communication, mobile communication and other technologies has made the dream of mankind to communicate anywhere on the earth a basic reality. The success of Internet can be said as one of the most significant achievements of mankind in the latter half of the 20 th century. At present, every country are making great efforts to develop the next generation of broadband information network, such as the Internet2 of the U.S. and CA NET3 of Canada, etc. China has also carried out -7-
some research work in this field, such as the NSFCNET by the Committee of the Natural Sciences Foundation, the CAINONET in the 863 Plan, the success in the research on and batch production of Dawn 3000 high-level server and router, and the completion and commercial application of the backbone broadband network of China Netcom (CNC), etc. In one word, technical means of building the global broadband information network has basically become mature and is still being developed at a high speed. It is just these highly efficient data communication modes that have made global information sharing possible. Global information resources are diversified and mutual beneficial Information is everywhere in our society today. New information is produced all the time and global information as a whole is really innumerous. Another big thing about global information is its diversity. Almost all countries and regions have unique information resources of their own. -8-
With the development of the global economy, virtually all countries are getting involved in the global tide of economic integration. Their economic inter-dependence on one another has been growing all the time, which will surely demand for the sharing of information, as one country cannot possess all the information resources due to the diversity of information resources. It can be seen that information sharing has the potential to provide mutual benefit and reciprocity for all the countries. The sharing of information resources is not just the providing of information by the IT advanced developed countries to those relatively backward developing countries, but also the flow of information from the latter to the former, as the former can also benefit from the sharing process. It is just on the basis of inter-dependence and mutual benefit that the sharing of information resources can be sustained in the long term. The responsibility of the developed countries The 21 st century is witnessing an increasing interdependence between -9-
countries as well as the globalization of the world economy. Indeed, the widening gap between the rich and the poor has become a global concern and the digital divide has also aroused world attention. The developed countries should take up more responsibilities in the sharing of information resources and the bridging of the digital divide. It should be pointed out that the developed countries should take more responsibility to solve this problem, and indeed they were more capable of doing so. The GDP of the western seven as a whole accounts for 70% of the world s total output value. The most advanced information technologies are controlled by a few developed countries represented by the US. Meanwhile, the backwardness and poverty of the developing countries have their root in history. Therefore the scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs and politicians in the developed countries should keep the past in mind and take more moral responsibilities with regard to the coordinated global development and the sharing of information resources. The following are a few proposals for the developed countries. It is expected that through the sharing of information resources worldwide, -10-
the digital divide can be bridged gradually. 1. Help the developing countries build and upgrade their IT infra-infrastructure at a reasonable price; 2. Train IT and management personnel for the Third World; 3. Allow the Third World countries to share more resources of information and knowledge; 4. Provide the Third World with free data for public good or sell them at a reasonable price; 5. The international community should establish and improve moral standards and regulations concerning the providing of a fair and rational share of information resources to the Third World, the poor regions and families as early as possible. The digital divide is a hard nut of global nature; however, it should also be noted that there are opportunities as well as challenges for the developing China. Having scored eye-catching achievements in the past two decades, China is now facing the dual mission of industrialization and informatization. In the new century, China should be more innovative. It should seize the opportunities to carry out the leaping development of social productive forces by giving play to the -11-
advantage of a later starter and by promoting industrialization with informatization. We are sure that through the concerted efforts of all, the digital divide can be transformed into digital opportunities or even digital bridges so that the divide may be narrowed and closed in the end. -12-