To date, advancements in information and communication technologies have only increased the divide between the information rich and the information poor.
Strenuous efforts will be needed to capitalize on the opportunities offered by the World Summit on Information Societies (WSIS) to bridge the gender divide which is already apparent within the emerging information society.
As the price of e-readers approaches zero, it opens up more opportunities for people who have been left on the wrong side of the digital divide to access the same wealth of information, entertainment and education as people with normal vision and average-or-better income.
Considering that the right to free speech and press freedom are deeply interconnected with the right to access information, it is a priority to bridge the digital divide both between and within countries.
Representatives of African countries, ASEAN, the Non-Aligned Movement and the Organization of American States pleaded for debt relief and efforts to narrow the "digital divide" -- the fast-growing gap between nations with access to information technology and those starved of IT.