Internet Governance Glossary

Universal access in a broader sense is encompassing a variety of issues, including information and computer literacy, digital media, information and communication technology (ICT) skills, as well as linguistic diversity through language protection, gender equality and women empowerment and empowerment of minorities and persons with disabilities. In a narrow sense it sometimes focuses on facilitating the expansion of access to ICT and the Internet in underserved areas. Regions benefitting from low communication costs (cities in general) could, for instance, extend their support to less favored regions (rural zones in general) characterized by high communication costs.