Mubarak addresses message to American people via Internet
President Hosni Mubarak sent a digital message via the America online network as reported by a US statement.
"Today I visited the internet corridor of northern Virginia, one of the world's foremost regions of the industry and met with Governor Jim Gilmore`s commission on information technology, who has also provided leadership through his chairmanship of the congressional advisory commission on electronic commerce. It was crystal clear how Egypt, as one of the world's fastest growing markets for the information industry, promises unlimited potential of cooperation with the US in this field. I therefore chose to extend this digital message directly to the American people through the largest online community in the world, to highlight some of Egypt's views on the information age," Mubarak said.
"The time through which we are living is unique. The world, is truly conquering a new stage of human evolution, a fresh phase of civilization. We are now departing the industrial age to the knowledge era. just as the earlier generations witnessed and helped shape the transformation from the agriculture based production to the industrial process of manufacturing, in our contemporary world, and more so in the future, information will constitute the most important component of any production operation, and the paramount source of wealth. Natural resources will be ancillary to knowledge: physical and financial capital will be subordinate to human investment," the President added.
"The fundamental change offers numerous opportunities, but also raises serious challenges. Primary amongst which is the digital divide: both between nations and within societies. The technology that portrays itself to be global, needs to be truly so not only in terms of reach, but more importantly in terms of equal access and mutual benefit. That is not necessarily the case in many instances which lays down a salient task to be undertaken by the world community, as a whole. These new technologies need to be geared towards the advancement of the developing world. The countries previously known as the third world, cannot afford to miss what is currently known as the third wave. Efforts must be made to utilize the new technologies to support leapfrog development strategies. Technology transfer is the only vehicle to make sure that the world, now coming together by technology, does not fall apart by inequality and the neglect of the basic needs of the world's poor," Mubarak further said.
"Venture capitalism, fueling risky start up business companies, needs to be matched by venture development, financing creative ideas aiming at improving the living standard of the neediest. The digital gap of income and the education unevenness needs to be bridged by digital opportunities of new tools and equipment. The tele-revolution, exemplified by telemedicine and tele-education, shortens physical distance separating those in need from the service or commodity that they want. It thus provides a unique opportunity for the projection of talents across borders and exchange of experiences across different systems," expounded the President.
"Wedded to these developmental challenges that the information and communications revolution has bought about, are cultural issues that need to be addressed," Mubarak stressed.
"The changes in technologies, their developmental challenges and the cultural repercussions all construct a new international system whereby states still play the leading role on the world arena, but also share the field with civil society and the multinational corporations. Since globalization is a well established fact, it is more important now, than in any other time, to make sure that the foundations of the international system that enabled it to survive in the modern history, continue to be able to do so in the future. Governments have a legitimate role to play and are the only representative institutions who speak for their peoples. While, there certainly is a growing positive role for other actors, states remain the pillar of the international society and international law must remain the governing code of conduct."