Kazakhstan debates the 'global digital divide'

Kazakhstan debates the 'global digital divide'

Almaty is the commercial heart of the country. Like Sofia, the Bulgarian capital, it is a city encircled by snow-capped mountains, and because of its altitude, it suffers a haze similar to the one which hovers over Los Angeles.

Hundreds of delegates are here from 37 countries. Day Two of East meets West was dominated by blue-sky thinking that is cyberspace.

The first session of the Eurasian Media Forum centered on Media Law, Media Freedom and the anxieties and realities.

The Internet has become embedded in the social and political fabric of most countries and of course that can lead to censorship and controversy.

One of the tallest firewalls is the Great Firewall of China, a country just two hours along the Silk Road from Almaty.

There was little mention of the country's net restrictions by the country which invests the most in Kazakhstan.

The panel included representatives from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) past and present: Professor Carlo Maffe an Internet economist from Italy and Dr Yaman Akdeniz, director of Cyber Rights Organisation in Turkey.

Most agreed we had to move faster to free up the net.

Others insisted the net was a market place and that meant rules and regulations.

As to regulation, an intervention from the floor suggested that there was as much chance of regulating the Internet as there was of regulating nature.

The next session focused on citizen journalism and the development of social networks.

Christiana Falcone moderated nimbly and there was a panel of ten guests on stage and in the front row of the audience.

It was diverse and many asked questions about journalist’s relationship with the blogosphere and the need to realise its full potential. The session lasted two hours and no-one left.

That is a rarity for forum sessions because there are so many distractions. It was an incisive look into the development and lack of development in some countries, in pariticular the digital divide.

It also high-lighted the confusion felt by public relations and major companies about what their role is in the Brave New Cyberworld.

There were more interventions from the floor - one suggested the view that blogging is a form of journalism but not true journalism - just opinion without the discipline and with too many rants.

It was agreed that journalists should focus more on their mainstream tasks.

The last word went to a comment that journalists who blog only do so because their want their name and picture reproduced in print.

That raised a laugh.... As if...!