GLOSSARY
Broadcasting – A term referring to the distribution of information using radio, television,
Internet and intranet or webcasting.
Digital Divide – The technological gap between countries that have fully exploited ICT
and those that have not. The digital divide is often associated with the
resulting gap in terms of economic development.
e-Commerce / Electronic Commerce – Business activities involving consumers,
manufacturers, suppliers, service providers and intermediaries using
computer networks such as the Internet.
Global Information Infrastructure (GII) – The components making up a wide area
network arising from multiple heterogeneous networks, which facilitate
multidimensional communication among different nations, business and
organisations.
“Hollowing-out” – The term given to the adverse impact of globalisation and ICT on
developing country economies (and their Government revenues) as a result
of commercial transactions that are performed electronically and are
invisible to their financial institutions and legal frameworks.
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) – Is a generic term used to
express the convergence of information technology, broadcasting and
communications. One prominent example is the Internet.
Information Based Economy (IBE) - A country or region where ICT is used to develop
economic foundation and market transactions.
Information Society (IS) – A country or region where information technology has been
fully exploited and is part of everyday life as an enabler of information
sharing, communication and diffusion.
Information Technology (IT) – Embraces the use of computers, telecommunications
and office systems technologies for the collection, processing, storing,
packaging and dissemination of information.
Internet Exchange Point (IXP) – It is a “peering point” for Interconnecting ISPs and/or
other IXPs for the purpose of localising national traffic routing as opposed
to using international routes to accomplish Inter-ISP traffic flow.
Internet Service Provider (ISP) – Also known as Internet Access Providers – Is a
company that provides infrastructure for access to the Internet or for
interconnecting other ISPs and content-based or application-based services
on the Internet.
Knowledge Based Economy (KBE) – A country or region where ICT is extensively
used to enhance knowledge so that higher human capital brings further
improvement to the economy.
Local Area Network (LAN) – A computer network that spans a relatively small area.
Most LANs are confined to a single building or group of buildings.
However, one LAN can be connected to other LANs over any distance via
telephone lines and radio waves.
Teledensity - The number of telephones per 100 people in a region.
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