A report published by the International Labour Organisation entitled World Employment Report 2001: Life at Work in the Information Economy highlights that even though there is an increase in communications, people are still finding it difficult to find jobs and gain access to these technological resources.

The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) revolution is resulting in a widening global digital divide between the wealthy and poorer countries around the world.

Key findings within the report highlighted that many areas in the world are still disconnected therefore not benefitting from the effects a digital era has had on peoples lives and working situations.

The report found that nearly 90% of internet users were from industrialised countries such as America and Canada making up 57% of this total. Users from Africa and the Middle East accounted for around only 1%.

It was also noted that ICT had the potential for providing jobs and improving lives for women, they still continued to earn lower incomes than men who would tend to rise to higher paying and more responsible positions.

This point had also been recognised by the UK government who are introducing initiatives to tackle this situation and reported by TrainingZONE.

The use made by women of the Internet was still identified as being the minority of all users in both developed and developing countries with figures as 38% in Latin America, 25% in the European Union, 19% in Russia 18% in Japan and in the Middle East only 4%.