Connectivity and ICTs in developing countries are contextualised by the “digital divide”. More than ten years ago, at a G-7 conference on the information society in February 1995 in Brussels, then deputy president of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, pointed out that there were more telephone lines in Manhattan than in the whole of sub-Saharan Africa. "Half of humanity has never made a telephone call," he said.

Although mobile communication and other applications are changing the telecommunications environment in Africa, given the topic of this session, the “digital divide” can be summarised as follows:

Before one can surf, three things are essential…The ability to swim (or does one fly in cyberspace?), a surfboard, and of course, the sea of clouds. All three are generally missing in most of Africa…The vast population can't swim, have no, or cannot afford the surfboard, and are caged in landlocked enclaves very far from cyberspace.

This situation presents serious challenges to the relevance of Web 2.0 applications in developing countries. The questions to be considered by participants and others interested in spreading the reach and impact of Web 2.0 - how can these issues be addressed and/or are web 2.0 applications really relevant in developing countries?