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Why
ICT speeds up development. Those who lack ICT skills or don’t have full access to it cannot achieve the same results as peers who do. ICT access & use can therefore cause exclusion and broadening of differences, (including the gap between rich and poor), but it can also help to close that gap. We feel it is a social responsibility to do so.
The digital divide
The term 'digital divide' describes the fact that the world can be divided into people who do and people who don't have access to - and the capability to use - modern information technology, such as the telephone, television, or the Internet. The digital divide exists between those in cities and those in rural areas. For example, a 1999 study showed that 86% of Internet delivery was to the 20 largest cities. The digital divide also exists between the educated and the uneducated, between economic classes, and, globally, between the more and less industrially developed nations.
Developments in the ICT sector go incredibly fast. Adoption of new technologies and effectively applying them in everyday life or businesses goes much slower however. Rural Web was thought up by non-techie persons in 2011, only to learn later on that the term ICT4D has already been on the international agendas for a couple of decades. And still the digital divide is growing.
Rural Web works on ICT4D, but from a different angle than most ICT4D projects. We try to help entrepreneurial people who want to achieve personal, business or community development by supporting their efforts and helping them achieve more through good habits and more and better ICT skills.
Rural Web is ever evolving. We believe in life long learning and because of this ongoing learning, Rural Web will continue to change and evolve over time. Because we are non-techies entering the ICT4D sector, we have set up a learning circle on ICT4D. Join us in learning about ICT4D, and how you can close the digital devide and erradicate extreme poverty in this world!