Africa and other industrially developing parts of the world have a chance to jump straight to the use of the latest Internet connectivity options without having to pass through the legacy processes gone through elsewhere. Under the right conditions a rural village in Uganda might enjoy the same level of connectivity as its counterpart in Europe or the United States.

The speed of development of new technologies, and corresponding reduction in price, means that there is now a great untapped potential for some developing nations to move quickly to use the benefits of the Internet in such sectors as:

• Agriculture: allowing farmers to get access to latest prices and availability of inputs; and buyers to know what is available where. More
  
  
• Commerce and Industry: allowing local companies to compete within the global environment, and allowing international companies to unify their operations. More
  
  
• E-Commerce: allowing businesses in any location to compete on equal terms in the B2B (Business to Business) chain. More
  
  
• Education: delivery of distance education materials and sharing in interactive classroom experiences. More
  
  
• Government: delivery of services at all levels and widespread rapid provision of information to areas previously difficult to reach. More
  
  
• Health services: health care delivery, information dissemination and research. More
  
  
• Media: gathering and dissemination of information to greatly increased audiences. More
  
  
• NGOs/ Not-for-Profits Organisations: servicing the local community via a telecentre; or coordinating relief efforts using either permanent or rapid-deploy temporary systems. More