ECOSOC Bureau Summit.

• Position: Bureau of the United Nations Economic and Social Council discusses international impact of information technology - Brief Article

In its first-ever meeting at the level of Heads of State and Government, the Bureau of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) on 8 September voiced concern that the potential of information technology (IT) for advancing development was not being met. The majority of the world's population still lived in poverty and remained untouched by the IT revolution, according to the Presidents of the Bureau's five member States-K. H. Abdurrahman Wahid of Indonesia, Thomas Klestil of Austria, Petar Stoyanov of Bulgaria, Paul Biya of Cameroon and Miguel Angel Rodriguez Echeverria of Costa Rica.

Stressing that urgent and concerted actions were necessary if the so-called "digital divide" were to be bridged, the Bureau welcomed the Ministerial Declaration adopted by ECOSOC on 7 July 2000 (see UN Chronicle, issue 2, 2000) on the role of information technology in development. Emphasizing that IT could open vast opportunities for economic...