United Nations (UN) World Summit Awards (WSA) board chairman and International Centre for New Media (ICNM) honorary president Peter Bruck said more should be done to bridge the digital divide.
"Today, 90 per cent of the content on the Internet is in English, but English is not the mother tongue of most of the people on this planet," he said. "We should also work to allow modern technologies to reach a larger portion of the population."
Mr Bruck was speaking at the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre (BIEC) at the start of deliberations by a 36-member grand jury from 36 countries, who will decide the winners of the WSA for e-content products.
The jury is being hosted in Bahrain by the Commerce and Industry Ministry until the sessions end on September 10.
The jury includes Bahrain Internet Society secretary Waheed Al Balushi.
Mr Bruck, who will moderate the evaluation process, said products selected by the jury could be held as an example of what quality e-content is.
The winners will be announced at the WUN World Summit on the Information Society, which will be held in Tunisia from November 16 to 18. The jury, including experts from all over the world, will stay at the Mercure Hotel and meet at the BIEC.
The jury will select five winners in eight categories: e-government, e-business, e-health, e-learning, e-science, e-entertainment, e-culture and e-inclusion, which is for products that reach people who don't know how to use computers.
The award is organised by the ICNM, based in Vienna, Austria. Bahrain approached them after the Commerce Ministry's website won the award in the e-government category at the WSA in Geneva in 2003.
Commerce and Industry Minister Dr Hassan Fakhro said e-commerce is one of the top items on the ministry's agenda. "The ministry believes in the significance and usefulness of IT-driven business," he said.
"The ministry is a promoter of e-commerce as a tool for enabling business and is involved in a number of initiatives to enhance the make-up of online business in Bahrain."
Information Ministry Under-Secretary Mahmood Al Mahmood said the Internet and technology has opened a limitless world of information, which should be taken advantage of.
Autor: Tariq Khonji
Quelle: Gulf Daily News, 04.09.2005
