The communications gap is even more glaring when you look at the numbers that have access to the Internet. Iceland, with a population of 250,000 has almost four times as many Internet hosts as India, with a population of 930 million. If we could change this balance, our global village would look tremendously different. If phones were readily available in every community, it would no longer take a village member days to walk to the city to inform a relative of a family event - time that might be better spent at work or home. A child suffering from a rare illness might actually be able to communicate with a world-renowned specialist through the Web or satellite.
Electronic commerce can also raise the economic hopes for developing businesses.
Yesterday, the White House released the First Annual Report from the U.S. Government Working Group on Electronic Commerce, reporting on recent electronic commerce initiatives. A family that grows vegetables or weaves rugs can actually access the worldwide market. Farmers can track the demand for their crops in foreign markets and determine where they can find the best price. Small businesses can pocket the entire profit earned through electronic sales, rather than losing profits to the middle men. Electronic commerce and e-mail can change the fortune of a village.