A digital divide is any uneven distribution in the access to, use of, or impact of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) between any number of distinct groups. These groups may be defined based on social, geographical, or geopolitical criteria, or otherwise. Because of ICT high cost, its adoption and utilization is highly uneven across the globe.
E-services are services which use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). The three main components of e-services are- service provider, service receiver and the channels of service delivery. For example, as concerned to public e-service, public agencies are the service provider and citizens as well as businesses are the service receiver. The channel of service delivery is the third requirement of e-service. Internet is the main channel of e-service delivery while other classic channels are also considered.
The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) was a two-phase United Nations-sponsored summit on information, communication and, in broad terms, the information society that took place in 2003 in Geneva and in 2005 in Tunis. One of its chief aims was to bridge the global digital divide separating rich countries from poor countries by spreading access to the Internet in the developing world. The conferences established 17 May as World Information Society Day.
The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) is an international network of organizations that was founded in 1990 to provide communication infrastructure, including Internet-based applications, to groups and individuals who work for peace, human rights, protection of the environment, and sustainability. Pioneering the use of ICTs for civil society, especially in developing countries, APC were often the first providers of Internet in their member countries.
The United Nations Information and Communication Technologies Task Force was a multi-stakeholder initiative associated with the United Nations which is "intended to lend a truly global dimension to the multitude of efforts to bridge the global digital divide, foster digital opportunity and thus firmly put ICT at the service of development for all".
Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology is a Directorate-General of the European Commission. DG Connect is responsible for managing the Digital Agenda.
A telecentre is a public place where people can access computers, the Internet, and other digital technologies that enable them to gather information, create, learn, and communicate with others while they develop essential digital skills. Telecentres exist in almost every country, although they sometimes go by a different names including public internet access center (PIAP), village knowledge center, infocenter, Telecottage, Electronic Village Hall, community technology center (CTC), community multimedia center (CMC), multipurpose community telecentre (MCT), Common/Citizen Service Centre (CSC) and school-based telecentre. While each telecentre is different, their common focus is on the use of digital technologies to support community, economic, educational, and social development—reducing isolation, bridging the digital divide, promoting health issues, creating economic opportunities, and reaching out to youth for example.
Technological literacy is the ability to use, manage, understand, and assess technology. Technological literacy is related to digital literacy in that when an individual is proficient in using computers and other digital devices to access the Internet, digital literacy gives them the ability to use the Internet to discover, review, evaluate, create, and use information via various digital platforms, such as web browsers, databases, online journals, magazines, newspapers, blogs, and social media sites.
The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) is a multistakeholder governance group for policy dialogue on issues of Internet governance. It brings together all stakeholders in the Internet governance debate, whether they represent governments, the private sector or civil society, including the technical and academic community, on an equal basis and through an open and inclusive process. The establishment of the IGF was formally announced by the United Nations Secretary-General in July 2006. It was first convened in October–November 2006 and has held an annual meeting since then.
e-participation is the term referring to ICT-supported participation in processes involving government and citizens. Processes may concern administration, service delivery, decision making and policy making. E-participation is hence closely related to e-government and e-governance participation. The need for the term has emerged as citizen interests have received less attention than those of the service providers in e-government development. It also emerged as the need to distinguish between the roles of citizen and customer has become more pressing.
Information and communication technology in agriculture, also known as e-agriculture, focuses on the enhancement of agricultural and rural development through improved information and communication processes. More specifically, e-agriculture involves the conceptualization, design, development, evaluation and application of innovative ways to use information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the rural domain, with a primary focus on agriculture. ICT includes devices, networks, mobiles, services and applications; these range from innovative Internet-era technologies and sensors to other pre-existing aids such as fixed telephones, televisions, radios and satellites. Provisions of standards, norms, methodologies, and tools as well as development of individual and institutional capacities, and policy support are all key components of e-agriculture.
The European Technology Platform (ETP) for the Electricity Networks of the Future (SmartGrids) is a European Commission initiative that aims at boosting the competitive situation of the European Union in the field of electricity networks, especially smart power grids. The ETP represents all European stakeholders. The establishment of an ETP in this field was for the first time suggested by the industrial stakeholders and the research community at the first International Conference on the Integration of Renewable Energy Sources and Distributed Energy Resources, which was held in December 2004.
The Integral SatCom Initiative (ISI) was an Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) European Technology Platform (ETP) led by the European SatCom industry and supported by the European Commission to address Satellite Communications (SatCom) strategic research and innovation challenges. It gathered approximately 200 member organisations representing all the stakeholders of the European SatCom sector from 29 different countries. It included members from manufacturing industry, network operations and service provision, SMEs, research centres and academia, European and National Institutions. Some international research entities do also participate. In 2013, after a public call by the European Commission to re-structure ETPs to better fit Horizon 2020 interests, ISI formally merged with Net!Works ETP to form NetWorld ETP, bringing together almost 1,000 partner organisations. NetWorld would become the partner ETP in the contractual public-private innovation partnership on 5G Infrastructures with the EU in December 2013.
The European Technology Platform on Nanomedicine is a European Technology Platform initiative to improve the competitive situation of the European Union in the field of nanomedicine, the application of nanotechnology to medicine.
The European Robotics Platform (EUROP) is one of several European Technology Platforms (ETP) to improve the competitive situation of the European Union. EUROP is an industry-driven framework for the main stakeholders in robotics to strengthen Europe's competitiveness in robotics R&D, as well as global markets, and to improve quality of life. To this aim EUROP has developed a joint European Strategic Research Agenda (SRA), which would help focus research initiatives and innovative activities towards maximum impact. The SRA was published in July 2009.
Design for All in the context of information and communications technology (ICT) is the conscious and systematic effort to proactively apply principles, methods and tools to promote universal design in computer-related technologies, including Internet-based technologies, thus avoiding the need for a posteriori adaptations, or specialised design.
Educational technology in sub-Saharan Africa refers to the promotion, development and use of information and communication technologies (ICT), m-learning, media, and other technological tools to improve aspects of education in sub-Saharan Africa. Since the 1960s, various information and communication technologies have aroused strong interest in sub-Saharan Africa as a way of increasing access to education, and enhancing its quality and fairness.
Cascade Funding, also known as Financial Support for Third Parties (FSTP), is a European Commission mechanism to distribute public funding in order to assist beneficiaries, such as start-ups, scale-ups, SME and/or mid-caps, in the uptake or development of digital innovation.
