Mansell, Robin 
ORCID: 0000-0003-3950-3468
(1999)
Global access to information & communication technologies (GAIT): priorities for action.
.
INK@SPRU, International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Sussex, UK.
Abstract
Global access to information and communication technologies - or ‘GAIT’ - requires the progressive extension of sustainable access to new technologies and services and support for their effective use within developing countries and regions, beyond the margins of what is currently considered viable. New initiatives through public and private sector partnerships are needed that will secure universal access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) as tools for innovative forms of knowledge-based development. This was the consensus that emerged from a series of meetings and discussions initiated by IDRC during 1998 and 1999. Many government, private sector, and donor organisations participated together with NGOs and other stakeholders. The consultation process was intended to seek new forms of action to promote sustainable investment in ICTs and to promote universal access to the new technologies and services. Promoting universal access requires pushing the margin of feasibility for sustainable investment in ICTs and in the capabilities needed to use them. Stakeholders must be encouraged to focus where conditions are likely to sustain effective public or private demand for access to ICTs. To achieve this, governments, donor agencies, local stakeholders and NGOs need to be alert to every opportunity to draw upon global networks of experts and organisational resources to catalyse progress towards universal access. This document highlights the observations that emerged from the consultation process on how universal access can most effectively be promoted.
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