Subject: [Depfis] Statement - Round Table, Trieste Oct 2003

From: [email-masked]
Date: Sun, 30 Nov 2003 15:53:04 -0300

----- Forwarded message from [email-masked] -----
    Date: Wed, 26 Nov 2003 12:16:36 +0100
    From: [email-masked]
Reply-To: [email-masked]
 Subject: About Statement - Round Table, Trieste Oct 2003 
      To: [email-masked]

Dear Colleagues,

   At the second Open Round Table on "Developing Country Access to
Scientififc Knowledge: Quantifying the Digital Divide", held in
Trieste, 23-24 October, those present agreed to sign an statement 
on 

    AFFORDABLE ACCESS TO THE INTERNET FOR RESEARCH AND LEARNING 

which will be presented to represenatives of governments 
at the World Summit on the Information Society, to be held in Geneva, 
from 10 to 12 December, 2003.

   We thank to all those who have already signed and invite you to 
sign and/or forward it to your colleagues.  We would like to have 
as many signatures as possible.

   To agree visit:

    http://www.ejds.org/meeting2003/statement

                           Sincere regards,

                            Hilda A. Cerdeira
                            Enrique Canessa

_____________________________________________________
Statement 
AFFORDABLE ACCESS TO THE INTERNET 
FOR RESEARCH AND LEARNING

   Scholars from across the world meeting at the Abdus Salam International 
Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste were concerned to learn 
of the barrier to education and research caused by the high cost of 
Internet access in many countries. 
The Internet enables the use of content which is vital for individuals and 
for institutions engaged in teaching, learning and research. In many 
countries use of the Internet is severely restricted by the high 
telecommunications cost, leading to inequality in realising the benefits 
of education and research. Research staff and students in countries with 
liberal telecommunications policies favouring educational use are gaining 
social and economic advantage over countries with restrictive, high-cost 
policies. The potential benefits of access to the Internet are not 
available to all. 

The signatories to this message invite scholars in every country to join 
them in expressing concern to governments and research funding agencies at 
the effect of high telecommunications costs upon individuals and 
institutions undertaking teaching, learning and research. The situation in 
many countries could be improved through educational discounts on normal 
telecommunications costs, or through the lifting of monopolies. It is for 
each country to determine its own telecommunications policies but the need 
for low-cost access to the Internet for educational purposes is a need 
which is common to the whole of humankind." 

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