Every year, IBM make five tech predictions that it is confident will be realized in the next five years: five in five. Number four this time is the prediction that the Digital Divide will be bridged, thanks to mobile devices.
Mobile devices are decreasing the information-accessibility gap in disadvantaged areas. In five years, the gap will be imperceptible as growing communities use mobile technology to provide access to essential information. New solutions and business models from IBM are introducing mobile commerce and remote healthcare, for example. Recorded messages can be transmitted to quickly deliver valuable information about weather and aid to remote or illiterate users who haven’t had ready access before.
Seems doable, unless governments get really stupid. I recently found that according to the ITU, St Helen’s is the only territory without mobiles. With a population of 5,000, this British colony makes little difference. There are, unfortunately some large countries in the bottom five, including Myanmar and Eritrea.
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