"Developing countries have largely been marginalized in the global dialogue on the benefits and negative impacts of digital technologies," said Kanti Kumar, channel editor. "Digital Opportunity Channel aims to give organizations and community leaders -especially in the South - a platform for their voice to be heard.”

Digital Opportunity Channel builds on OneWorld's seven years of experience in ICT for development and presents content from OneWorld's worldwide partnership of over 1,250 development, human rights and environment NGOs. All these NGOs are now using the Internet and other ICT to share knowledge and take action on poverty and human rights, or to support initiatives that aim to meet the basic needs of the most disadvantaged peoples of the world.

Digital Opportunity Channel also brings in the experience of the Benton Foundation's Digital Divide Network (www.digitaldividenetwork.org), a community of practitioners, activists, academics, policymakers and people from ICT industries creating mutual strategies in bridging the digital divide.

Channel features include news, campaign actions, success stories, opinion pieces by leading commentators, in-depth analysis and research, events listings, a beginner's guide to digital divide issues, funding information, email digests and a dedicated search facility on ICT for development.

OneWorld is funded for Digital Opportunity Channel by the UK Government Department for International Development and the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Directorate General for International Co-operation. The Benton Foundation involvement in Digital Opportunity Channel is supported by the AOL Time Warner Foundation and the Markle Foundation