But less developed countries as well as minority groups are being increasingly left behind by this technologically revolution. The gap between the ICT haves and have-nots, more commonly known as the digital divide, came under focus at the first Global ICT Summit last week.
The summit, held at Cyberport, was intended to showcase the best examples of how to bridge the digital divide.
One country that recognises the impact of ICT on society is Bangladesh.
Abdul Moyeen Khan, Bangladesh's Minister for Science and Information and Communication Technology, said: "Our ultimate goal is to view ICT as not just a technology. We are trying to use technology to reshape society as a whole."
Mr Khan said one example of where the impact of ICT was being felt was in the country's democratic process.
With e-mail addresses of senior government figures being public knowledge, any citizen can ask them a question.
"We are trying to make a democratic government more open," Mr Khan said.
Bangladesh is not only using new technology, it is also helping develop it.
Mr Khan said Bangladeshi engineers could now be found at many top United States technology companies. And, at the same time, Bangladesh's nascent technology sector was enjoying success.
To ensure access to ICT across the country, the government is building up a national network that will eventually connect the country's secondary schools.
Mr Khan said the network would eventually reach 20,000 schools.
These, in turn, will be used as grassroots computer centres for the local community. However, internationally, attempts at getting ICT into schools have met mixed results.
The United States has been trying to wire its schools since 1996.
Andy Carvin, programme director for the Washington Centre for Media and Community, said schools had been subsidised up to 90 per cent of the cost of getting wired, depending on the income level of the school's neighbourhood.
Unfortunately, while this meant schools were able to invest heavily in new technology, little thought was given to the professional development of teachers.
"Surveys have shown only one in three teachers knows anything about using the internet," Mr Carvin said.
He said the answer to this was to find new pedagogy, or teaching methods, for using educational technology.
In comparison, Australia's large land mass and widespread population centres had made it hard to create a national schools computer network.
But Louise van Rooyen, executive director of the Australian Interactive Multimedia Association, said the country had put a lot of effort into developing teaching methods harnessing ICT.
A number of materials for teaching children had been developed following a government decision to set aside A$73 million (HK$393.66 million) for e-learning projects, she said.
"We've not got a great infrastructure yet, but we do have some really great materials ready for when the infrastructure is rolled out," she said.
Besides the role of ICT in education, the summit looked at examples of e-culture, e-government and e-science.
Quelle: Asia Pacific Media Network, 18.05.2004
