Introduction

During the 1990s, advances in digital technology enabled simultaneous creation, processing and transmission of all forms of data — textual, sound and image. Along with the evolution of the Internet and World Wide Web, such advances led to the convergence of media, access equipment, gadgets and devices, applications and services. In common parlance, convergence also refers to the technical, functional and corporate integration1 of key sectors like telecommunication, broadcasting, microelectronics and information technology (Soriano, 2003, pp. 15–16; UNESCO, 1997, p. 33). The origin and popular use of the term Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) is attributed to such convergences and to the fusion of computing and communications — especially through the Internet (Labelle, 2003, p. 1). Broadly they include devices, applications and services associated with radio, television, mobile phones, computers, network and satellite systems (Kleine & Unwin, 2009, pp. 1045–6). ICTs enable communication and exchange of information between individuals and organizations across geographic locations (UNDP, 2001b). They are central to the process of globalization and in the creation of economies and societies, often described as ‘global’, ‘digital’, ‘networked’, ‘information’ or ‘knowledge’.