UNITED NATIONS: In spite of global progress in expanding the use of the Internet and information communications technology (ICT), the digital divide between developed and developing world remains wide, Pakistan told the world body during a virtual discussion organised by a United Nations body that conducts independent research on international security issues.
“The inability of the developing countries to reap benefits of digital transformation offered by extraordinary opportunities for innovation, communication, sustainable development and economic growth is amplifying the risk of further deepening of the already existing digital divide,” Ambassador Aamir Khan, deputy permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, told the webinar sponsored by the Geneva-based United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR).
If unchecked, he warned that the exponential proliferation of disinformation through online platforms and social media was exacerbating social discord, competing nationalisms, discrimination, hate speech, stigmatisation, racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia and related intolerances.
According to statistics, out of 2.9 billion people offline, 96 percent live in developing countries.
Bridging the digital divide will require addressing the major impediments that developing countries face in engaging with and accessing new technologies, such as an appropriate enabling environment, sufficient resources, infrastructure, education, capacity, investment and connectivity, the envoy said.
At the same time, he said the new era of strategic competition transformed by the significance of the unconventional battle space and the coercive power of hybrid warfare has seriously undermined the space for international cooperation.
“There is no doubt that in order to have an open, stable, accessible, secure and peaceful cyberspace, the need for formulating a comprehensive framework for cyber capacity-building is more than ever before,” Khan said.
Achieving real and sustained progress in the various dimensions of digitalization requires skills development and effective training, in particular in developing countries,” he said.
“This is necessary to unlock the benefits of technology, including the more effective use of emerging technologies and ensuring that individuals stay safe, protected and productive online.”
In this regard, Khan called for prioritisation of the transfer of technology and technical assistance based on an open, fair and non-discriminatory access to ICT-related science, technologies, products and services.
