Digital Reach

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other countries of the world, there exists an information or

knowledge gap, a polarization of the rich and poor in the form

of the ‘digital divide.’ Due to the diversity of reach and use of

information, and the unbalanced development of ICT and appli-

cation skills, the digital divide has become a serious obstacle to

progress in the globalization process. This is an international

issue rather than a phenomenon existing in certain countries

or regions.

With the aim of accelerating the shrinkage of the digital

divide, the ISC co-launched a proposal with renowned entre-

preneurs from domestic industry in the Internet service, telecom

and computer sectors to initiate the ‘5 . 18 Internet Charity Day.’

The first Internet Charity Day in China, held on 18 May 2005,

addressed the topic of ‘Building the Internet, Benefiting

Everyone,’ and responded to the theme of the 37th World

Telecommunication Day, ‘Creating an Equitable Information

Society: Time for Action’, set up on May 17, 2005. Following

this call, Internet practitioners spontaneously and voluntarily

took various actions, including donation of equipment, fund

sponsorship and special training to promote the popularization

and application of ICT in China’s least developed economic

regions in the west and north, making ICT and digital oppor-

tunity easily accessible to disadvantaged and vulnerable groups

of people.

Extending hope to the endless future

Internet Society of China

Internet Charity Enterprise Prize awarded at China Internet Conference

2005 by ISC

ISC’s Chairman Ms. Hu Qiheng and Secretary General Mr. Huang

Chengqing met with volunteer Xu Benyu

EPTEMBER

2005, the students of Dashui Village Mid-school

in Dafang County – the middle part of Bijie District in north-

west of Guizhou province, China – will have their first

opportunities to see and touch computers in the newly built

multimedia classroom. These computers from the Chinese capital

Beijing, have been donated through the ‘5 . 18 Internet Charity

Day’ initiated by the Internet Society of China (ISC).

ISC was inaugurated in May 2001, and has more than 70 spon-

sors including network access carriers, ISPs, facility

manufacturers, research institutes among others. The society has

long engaged in the development of China’s Internet industry,

and has made a significant contribution to the Internet’s popu-

larization and application in China. The ISC’s responsibility is to

make the Internet accessible to everyone, thus creating an

Information Society in China.

Internet use in China has continued to develop rapidly this

year, with the total number of users now exceeding 100 million

and around 50 million computers capable of accessing the

Internet. In this regard, China has become the second-largest

population of netizens in the world, closely behind America.

The digital divide

But the growing number of Internet users does not necessarily

maximize its popularization and uses. In China, as in many