His Excellency the President of Senegal and Coordinator of the ICT of NEPAD, Maitre Abdoulaye Wade, shares with "Beyond" his determination to bridge the North-South Digital Divide The digital revolution, which was confined only a few years ago to a narrow network of pioneers and a few who have been initiated to what was then the New Technologies of Information and Communication (NTIC), has become today a world wide cultural and civilization phenomenon. The canvas is widening with technological advances, so much that we no more speak of "NTIC" but just "TIC", because in that sector where speed is the main factor, digital technologies are no longer considered new. "Cyberculture" is becoming everyone's business, including the most geographically isolated areas. However, if the Internet is no doubt a linking factor, it carries with it serious threats of marginalization. The dividing line between peoples lies today between those who are able to communicate because they have access to the digital tools and those who are isolated from the rest of the world because they are held back at the margin of the information society. On the occasion of the launching of the Digital Solidarity Fund on 14 March 2005, I recalled a few statistics that illustrated the two speeds of the present world: in Manhattan only, there are more telephone landlines that the whole of Sub-Saharan Africa, except South Africa. The countries of the North, which represent 15% of the world population own more than 85% of telecommunications resources. Half of the servers of the world are concentrated in the United States, whereas all the countries of the South put together have less than 5%. These reflect, in sufficiently simple terms, the problem of the digital divide while there are many other elements of comparison that I could have cited. The Digital Solidarity Fund, which I had proposed in December 2003, during the World Summit on the Information Society, in my capacity of Coordinator of the ICT of the New Partnership for the African Development (NEPAD) seeks to contribute to the efforts of the international community to fill the digital divide. A few reminders are necessary here: The Digital Solidarity Fund, with its headquarters in Geneva, is replenished by voluntary contributions, public or private. A contribution of at least 300,000 Euros has been suggested for the states, cities and local governments participating in the Fund. The "Principe de Geneve" (The Geneva Principle) is one of the major pillars of the Digital Solidarity Fund. By virtue of this mechanism, any partner enterprise that achieves profits or provides services related to the Fund, pledges to contribute 1% of the amount of the transaction, from its profits' margin. The resources of the Digital Solidarity Fund (which amount to 5,354,444 Euros as of 31 December 2005) are rigorously and transparently managed by a tripartite Council comprising: public offices, private enterprises and civil society. The Digital Solidarity Fund has the mission to facilitate to the public at large access to the world network of ICTs, in its various applications, including the essential area of education. In a knowledge society such as ours, it is no more an exaggeration to say that those who have access to the Internet are not obliged to go around the world to gain knowledge. It is enough to connect, because the canvas has become an enormous library at the scale of the entire world. We can very well say, for research as well as for learning "knowledge is today on the net." The evident relationship between the Digital Solidarity Fund and education does not have to be demonstrated. In the South, as in the North the Internet is not a luxury, it is a requirement of modern times. For this reason, in Senegal, where we are developing a social project based on quality human resources, we are dedicating up to 40% of our budget to education, we are putting the digital technology at the forefront of the curriculum of all school and university students. In the kindergarten that caters for children from 2 -- 6 years, computer games are included in the range of all educational toys to shape the minds of our children and adapt these to the digital environment. When they become adults, they will not be among the computer illiterates of the 21st Century. At the end of schooling, we are building the University of the African of the Future where learning will be provided through satellites in real time and by connecting to the large universities of the world. At the end, the students of this university will earn the same diploma - not an equivalent - as the one earned by the students of partner universities. The third aspect of these policies is the program "one student/one computer, one teacher/one computer" to improve the quality of our education. Together with the mayor of Besançon and the Company AXA Assurances, we are currently developing a large program called "SENECLIC" in the same vein as the Digital Solidarity Fund. Our two partners are putting at the disposal of the Senegal 30,000 computers at the rate of 10,000 per year to strengthen our national digital solidarity network. The original feature of this operation was launched on 3 June 2006 in the framework of our Ten-Year Education and Training Program (PDEF) where computers will be equipped with educational software and programs and adapted to the needs of handicapped persons. This is yet another aspect of solidarity with a segment of society that is frequently marginalized. Already three schools in Dakar have been equipped with a multimedia hall through the project SENECLIC. I am convinced that every time our youngsters are placed in the same conditions of competition with those from developed countries, they can achieve excellent results. A beautiful illustration was made by one of our young countrymen whom I met last May in New York, following his victory in a robotics competition over students from more prestigious schools than his school in the district of Harlem. I would like to add that this youngster who was about to be expelled on the grounds of illegal immigration caused such a stir of solidarity around him that he obtained the support of senior officials who organized a campaign to regularize his situation. Two years ago, a rural woman, a young agricultural entrepreneur, who became literate, and lived in Podor some 400 kms from Dakar, was able to improve qualitatively and quantitatively her maize crops. Through the Web, she became familiar with new production methods and discovered new varieties of maize. As I had launched a program targeting the production of 1 million tons of maize, she enthusiastically came to the palace to show me her product. I have the habit to say that ICTs are the domain of equal opportunities par excellence, as, in front of the computer, we all advance with the same speed. But as long as two-thirds of humanity, who run the risks of marginalization, are left out, the world canvas, like an unfinished painting, will show a gigantic gaping hole. Let there be no doubt about it. Digital solidarity should not be perceived as charitable work. In reality, by reinforcing the capabilities of the South, the North equally benefits because it takes advantage of as many opportunities and markets' share. It is indeed in the South, where needs are still enormous that there is a large potential of progress for enterprises. At the end, we all win. It is a "win-win situation" as the Anglo-Saxons would say. Translated from French by Amina Abdel-Aziz
