Glossary Broadcasting – A term referring to the distribution of information using radio, television, the Internet, intranet, webcasting, etc. Digital Divide – The technological gap between countries that have fully exploited ICT and those that have not. The digital divide is often associated with the resulting gap in terms of socio-economic development. E-Commerce / Electronic Commerce/Electronic transactions – Business activities involving consumers, manufacturers, suppliers, service providers and intermediaries using electronic medium. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) – Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) is a concept related to the convergence of Information Technology, telecommunications, broadcasting and multimedia. ICT is an environment enabling the development of physical infrastructure, hardware equipment and software systems used for the processing, the storing and the transmission of information. Information Society (IS) – A country or region where information technology has been fully exploited and is part of everyday life as an enabler of information sharing, communication and diffusion. Information Technology (IT) – Embraces the use of computers, telecommunications and office systems technologies for the collection, processing, storing, packaging and dissemination of information. Internet Exchange Point (IXP) – It is a “peering point” for interconnecting ISPs and/or other IXPs for the purpose of localizing national traffic routing as opposed to using international routes to accomplish inter-ISP traffic flow. Internet Service Provider (ISP) – Also known as Internet Access Providers, an ISP is a company that provides infrastructure for access to the Internet or for interconnecting other ISPs and content-based or application-based services on the Internet. Knowledge Based Economy (KBE) – A country or region where ICT is extensively used to enhance knowledge so that higher human capital brings further improvement to the economy. Local Area Network (LAN) – A computer network that spans a relatively small area. Most LANs are confined to a single building or group of buildings. However, one LAN can be connected to other LANs over any distance via telephone lines and radio waves. Teledensity - The number of telephones per 100 people in a region. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) – Also known as Voice over Internet, IP Telephony or Internet Telephony – refers to telephone services provided over the Internet as the transmission medium. Wide Area Network (WAN) – A computer network that spans a relatively large geographical area. Typically, a WAN consists of two or more local area networks (LANs). Computers connected to a wide area network are often connected through public networks, such as the telephone system. They can also be connected through leased lines or satellites. The largest WAN in existence is the Internet. ICT Policy of Sierra Leone Page 9 / 63