<nettime> Information Poverty Research Institute

[Frederick Noronha <fred@goa1.dot.net.in>]

Thanks to Irfan Khan <KhanIA@super.net.pk>
and the mailing list s-asia-it@apnic.net
(South Asia IT) for drawing this to our attention.-FN

[from IPRI's web page]
Information Poverty Research Institute 

Information Poverty Research Institute is a US based think-tank 
(under registration as a non-profit organisation) that studies the 
long-term effects of information technology on world poverty. The 
institute's research is concerned with the fact that almost 99 
percent of the world's population has no access to information 
technology. The economic, political and cultural repurcussions of 
this fact are the basis of a new form of poverty -- information 
poverty. IPRI believes that information poverty will be one of the 
greatest issues confronting individuals and nations in the 21st 
century. 

Information technology is today one of the most fundamental building 
blocks of western economies, most notably the United States. This has 
led these economies to unprecedented levels of growth and 
competitiveness. However replicating this growth in developing 
countries faces innumerable obstacles--poor telephone density, low PC 
penetration, lack of software in local languages, paucity of funds 
for infrastructural development etc. These obstacles threaten to 
throw developing economies out of synch with the rapidly evolving 
mainstream digital economy.

IPRI believes that this is a complex issue that has not received the 
attention it deserves. We also believe that since these are the early 
days of the digital revolution, we have a chance to guide technology 
in directions that are ultimately beneficial to society as a whole.

IPRI aims to achieve this goal by:

1) Collaborating with academic institutions with similar research 
goals.

2) Studying successful applications of information technology in 
developing countries.

3) Coordinating with international organisations to publish research 
on the subject.

4) Interacting closely with the world press to raise awareness of 
information poverty.

5) Organising conferences and seminars on information poverty.

IPRI's board of advisors will consist of technologists, journalists, 
and activists from all over the world.
 
Contact us: mail@ipri.org
http://www.ipri.org/


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