Bridging the gap between the technology "haves" and "haves nots" is the crusade that attracted delegates from all angle of the world ranging from the political leaders, non governmental organisations,(NGOs)civil societies, business sector entities as well as united nations agencies meets in Geneva, Switzerland last week

The world summit on the information society (wsis) was aimed at transforming the developing world into high-tech ready nations and to reduce the technological gap between the developed and the developing nations as well as bringing the internet and telecoms innovations to the world's poor nations.

The United Nations secretary general Mr. Kofi Annan who was the president of the summit said while delivering a speech at the summit that, "we are all familiar with the extraordinary power of information and communications technologies.(ICT) From trade to telemedicine, from education to environmental protection, we have in our hands, on our desktops and in the skies above, the ability to improve standards of living for millions upon millions of people.

"We have tools that can propel us toward the millennium development goals; instruments with which to advance the cause of freedom and democracy; vehicles with which to propagate knowledge and mutual understanding. He said.

Mr Annan said, "the so-called digital divide is actually several gaps in one. There is a technological divide - great gaps in infrastructure. There is a content divide. A lot of web-based information is simply not relevant to the real needs of people. And nearly 70 percent of the world's web sites are in English, at times crowding out local voices and views

He said ,there is a commercial divide. E-commerce is linking some countries and companies ever more closely together. But others run the risk of further marginalization. Some experts describe the digital divide as one of the biggest non-tariff barriers to world trade. he added.

"There are obvious social, economic and other disparities and obstacles that affect a country's ability to take advantage of digital opportunities. He added.

Notwithstanding, the political leaders at the summit presented different papers with different content. Leaders from the developing countries attacked the summit by emphasizing on the socio-economic needs for the billions of people living in their countries while the developed once maintain there positions for continuous assisting the weaker nations on the information and communications technology.

President Robert Gabriel Mugabe of Zimbabwe said at the summit that, in spite of the present global milieu of technological sophistication, we remain a modern world divided by old dichotomies and old asymmetries that make genuine calls for digital solidarity sound hollow. adding that, It is a sad, sad story of improved technological means for unimproved human ends.

He said that, while we have talked about the need for information and communication technologies as tools with which to contrive the information society, we are soon to discover that receivers and computers are powered by electricity which is unavailable in a typical Third World village. Long after we have talked about connectivity, we are soon to discover that most platforms for electronic communication need basic telecommunication infrastructure which does not exist in a typical African village.

He further said, to him E-commerce implies growing economies trading fairly in barrier-free markets. E-education implies economies run for the people, not for the sake of enriching one or two multinational corporations. E-health implies affordable drugs for affordable health delivery systems that can only be guaranteed by policies that are genuinely national.

Mr Mugabe gave his positions at the summit that, the key to, and foundation of an information society lies in the resolution of the dilemma of development. The way to an information society is through even, fair and just development. There is no shortcut. He added.