Jérôme Bindé1, coordinator of the UNESCO report Towards Knowledge Societies, considers that the knowledge divide between North and South can only be overcome by technical means

Reducing the digital divide must become a priority objective if new technologies are to contribute to development and stimulate the expansion of genuine «knowledge societies». «Info-exclusion» is not only linked to content, but also to access and connectivity. Consequently, it is tied in with both the digital divide and the cognitive divide, reflecting the educational, cultural and linguistic barriers that make the Internet something alien and inaccessible for populations confined to the margins of globalisation.

The digital divide is far from an exclusively technological problem, as it must be viewed in the broader context of the cognitive divide, which is particularly stark between North and South. Connecting populations via pipes and optical fibres is insufficient if this connectivity is not backed up by suitable cognitive and legal instruments that ensure its effectiveness. Access to knowledge is not simply a question of infrastructure, but depends on training, cognitive abilities and regulating access to its content.

New information and communication technologies also permit greater sharing of knowledge. Not only from the digital perspective of the number of individuals connected, but also from the qualitative perspective of content that is diversifying and interacting at an increasing rate.

Therefore, we must disregard providing a standard «turnkey product» as it would insufficiently reflect cultural and linguistic diversity, a necessity to enable everyone to find their bearings amid the developments taking place. Instead, we must recognise the value of local, traditional and indigenous experience, consider it as an integral part of knowledge and protect it with suitable mechanisms.

While the spreading of knowledge may contribute to eradicating certain decisive factors that fuel the digital divide, the main obstacle to the rapid, widespread development of knowledge societies is not only this divide. It is also the existence of major inequalities between countries of the North and countries of the South with regard to the production of and participation in knowledge.

Technology will not succeed in bridging the divides that exist between North and South, as technology alone is no replacement for reflection, thought, education and creativity.

© Jérôme Bindé