Redefining the digital divide: enabling technologies and local needs beyond the rhetoric of donation

When questioning the complex relationships between ICT (Information and Communication Technology) and development, most observers tend either to overemphasize the power of technology, or to underestimate the role of ICT in helping to achieve basic human goals. Following this perspective, what really matters is not mere material access to technology, but mainly its effective use. People's motivations, their skills and, more generally, what has been defined as “(new) media literacy” are therefore crucial.