Beyond the digital divide.

Technology firms have realised that fostering the adoption of information technology in the developing world would not just benefit locals, but is in vendors' best interests as well. Engineers and programmers at American computing giant Hewlett-Packard in India are working on low-cost devices for the three-quarters of Indians who still live in the countryside. Several centres--in India, South Africa, Ghana and Brazil--have already been established. These technologies are part of HP's plans to sell to the four billion poorest people at the bottom of the global economic pyramid. In addition, the company has invested resources in a project designed to set up "Digital Villages" and "i-communities" around the world--the former are philanthropic projects, the latter strategic market investments. Companies around the world are now busy developing low-cost devices and innovative business models to reach the world's poor.