internet - Bridging the digital divide



The Shanghai Foreign Correspondents' Club is organizing on the 19th of this month a meeting that seems very attractive, but since I will be in Brussels then, I would have to rely on others to blog this meeting. (Their website is not updated so has no relevant information).
Kenny Lin, now CEO of Town and Talent Technologies (TTT) is trying to bridge the digital divide between the Yellow Sheep River village in Gansu province and the rest of the world. Dr. Lin writes:

"We have installed IT-school computer classrooms. This gave the opportunity to villagers to be trained in computer classes, build their own websites and start e-business. This charity-motivated project has led to a $20M business investment, which has enabled the operation to now encompass more than 100 duplications of the original success at Yellow Sheep River Village, and the building of the Yellow Sheep River International Convention Centre. I will explain how the "social entrepreneur" business approach is demonstrating that "charity" investment can turn a profit thus enabling the establishment and sustaining of "digital centres" in the digital divided regions. The company's mission is to expand its operations to over 1000 places and employ 10,000 digital workers, thus not only living up to its name: "One Thousand Towns and Ten Thousand Talents" but showcasing poverty elimination by means of bridging the digital divide.

Write to Elyn for more information on this event.

Books on digital divide