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Bridges to the Future Initiative About the Project | Background | Operating Model | The "digital divide" is a global phenomenon. In industrialized countries, the knowledge economy, powered by the Internet and e-commerce, has become a key driver of growth and productivity, leading to new levels of prosperity. Yet, at the same time, a global digital divide is growing, such that the poor and disadvantaged peoples of developing countries are falling further and further behind in economic and social development. As one effort to help traverse this rapidly increasing gap, the Bridges to the Future Initiative (BFI) – a public-private collaboration of corporate, national, and international agencies, non-profit institutions, and foundations – is designed to be a major catalyst for efforts to effectively and appropriately harness the benefits of the new information age for educational development among the half of the world's population that is currently being left on the wrong side of the digital divide. The BFI will focus on assisting poor, disadvantaged, and marginalized youth and adults in developing countries to take advantage of new information and communications technologies (ICTs) for improving basic literacy and technological literacy skills as a means to participate in the global information and economic marketplace.

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