Do you have any personal experience with the digital divide?

Yes, in the context of E-Participation-Realizations and Usability-Studies in several projects. This means exactly that we are eager to involve all potential users in E-Participation-Projects with Information-Workshops and personal help. Also the aspect of Usability is an important part for inclusion.

Do you know of any organizations that make an effort to bridge the digital divide?

Yes, the federal chancellery with his information-page "help.gv.at" (multilinguality, content for disabled persons)

Internet access in low- or marginal-income areas is a problem partly because of the unavailability of broadband and telephone lines. Do you think wireless technology could provide a solution to this problem in such areas?

I guess that wireless technology via satellite can close the cost-gap, because of the not-needed terrestric infrastructure – the most important think is political willingness – the technology-aspect is secondary

In addition to a dearth of physical access in some locations, there have also been issues regarding people's acceptance of technology's ever-growing role in our societies. In many cases, these “don't-wants” are at an even greater disadvantage than the “have-nots.” Do you think people will come to embrace technology by themselves as time passes? What can be done to catalyze this process?

Yes absolutely – time is the ruling factor. what could be done is to inform clearly, open and positive

Language differences also contribute to the digital divide, but it is of interest for IT companies to make their products available to more consumers. Has there been any significant effort made to make the Internet and software in general more international? Do you think such efforts could help bridge the digital divide?

Yes the multilinguality efforts of the semantic web community – it will need 5 more years, than the language-problem should be solve. Over all I have to say, that it is also a political effort necessary, because of the inner translantion – that means: what do the political sphere to translate the contents generally intelligible to their citizens.

There's something of an “inventor dilemma” in the IT industry: is it better to produce expensive business computers for the elite, or to produce inexpensive computers for the low income public? Can you please explain where you stand on this?

Both is important – it is a business-calculation process. Remember the $100,-- Laptop from the WSIS. If the UN or anybody else finance the production and distribution of this laptop, than it could be also a winning business sector. It underlies more a calculation as a social aspect – what a pitty!!!

In some developing countries, people are using pirated software as a response to their inability to afford genuine software. Do you think pirated software has the power to lessen the digital divide? How do you feel about its influence? Do you think free software (ex: the GNU project) would play a role in bridging the digital divide?

This could be possible, I guess it will – because of the fact, that the OS-Community is an international community and more and more members from threshold countries will be included.

Do you think we have done, and continue to do, enough to bridge the digital divide? The way things appear now, do you think the divide will widen or narrow in the future? Why?

This is more complex and perspective to answer. I guess the global digital divide will narrow in the future but the social digital divide (in the deep) will be widen, because of the ability and affordability of new system-parts and functionalities, that opens a deeper space of content-consumption, only for a small group – also within the first world.

Perhaps Wikipedia or something similar could help to narrow in general.

What do you think would be the most effective solutions for the digital divide?

Political willingness
New creative efforts in fundraising
A worldwide community of young and educated Cosmopolitans
New affordable technologies
A strong UN
Money