Web 2.0 can benefit the world's poor

"New web applications can benefit the world's poor", argue Waleed al-Shobakky and Jack Imsdahl in an article recently published by SciDev.Net. The term 'Web 2.0' captures the transition of the worldwide web from flat websites offering static information to a new computing platform independent of earlier shackles.

The applications available include web-based word processors and spreadsheets such as gOffice or ThinkFree, online calendars like Kiko and backup services such as that provided by Mozy. Most of these also offer free storage space, acting as a kind of virtual hard disk for saving files.