The publication comes out of the Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme, a United Nations incentive that 'aims to promote the development and application of new Information and Communication Technologies (ITs) for poverty alleviation and sustainable human development in the Asia-Pacific region.'

This view of IT, as a significant part of the answer to poverty, is criticized by some as being unduly optimistic. They point out that as many as 90 percent of the world's population, and nearly 99 percent of Africa's population, still does not have access to the internet, and many have no access to IT of any form, including the telephone and radio.

The Global Knowledge Partnership's book, Access, Empowerment and Governance, Creating a World of Equal Opportunities with IT, attempts to persuade critics that its aspirations are realistic.

'ITs are not a panacea for all development challenges,' write the authors, Ingrid Hagen and Radhika Lal, in the first chapter.

'The hype is over and we are fully aware of this now.'