( refereed ) Shirin Madon

This article attempts to gain an understanding of the current and potential impact of the Internet on the four-fifths of the world's population living in developing countries, two-thirds of them poor. First, it attempts to put today's rapid advances in information and communication technology in a broader debate about development and the role of information. Next, it explores the interaction between the Internet and key dimensions of development. Finally, it discusses some key policy implications of Internet diffusion and usage which governments of developing countries will have to address. These include an increasing role for intermediary institutions in the creation and dissemination of relevant knowledge on the Internet in order that the technology is used in a way that is compatible with local development goals. Introduction The importance of expanding the access of developing countries to the Internet has been recognised by governments and international agencies with increasing consensus that the Internet and related telecommunications technology should be regarded as strategic national infrastructure (Kenney, 1995; Mansell and Wehn, 1998). This has led to significant rates of increase in the regional distribution of Internet host connections over the last few years (ITU, 1999). The establishment of such strategic infrastructure is considered critical for developing countries where the marginal impact of improved network communications can be very high, leading to improved economic productivity, governance, education, health and quality of life, particularly in rural areas (Adam, 1996; Press, 1996). For example, in Africa, the growth of small scale, low cost electronic networks has been influential in building an academic and research community within the continent that discusses and shares topics of concern (Adam, 1996; Panos, 1998). Another example is the networking project launched by the Commonwealth Secretariat in 1990 called COMNET-IT. The project aims to improve government collaboration within the commonwealth group of countries using electronic networks to facilitate the sharing of data on administrative reform experiences (Qureshi and Cornford, 1994). These findings suggest that wider connectivity within developing countries would improve the overall information infrastructure in these countries and thereby promote positive changes in socio-economic development. Despite increases in the provision of information services that are available through the Internet for users in the developing world, there is considerable scepticism regarding the potential of the technology for socio-economic development. For example, most Internet diffusion statistics, although The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at http://www.emerald-library.com