The CTO may be 100 years old, but its mission has never been more relevant. Today 'globalisation' is the focus of protest and debate. Is it a charter for exploitation or the route to wider prosperity? Who better to take an informed view on that topic than an organisation which focuses on communication and whose members embrace both advanced economies and developing countries?

For BT's part, while there is undoubtedly a negative side to globalisation, we believe that the links created by communications technology are generally a positive force, a force that must be harnessed for progress.

Our vision is of a communications-rich world - a world in which everyone, irrespective of nationality, culture, class or education, can benefit from the power of communication skills and technology.

And we are not alone in identifying communications as a key enabler of a more sustainable global society. Many organisations have highlighted the potential benefits information and communications technologies can bring to communities around the world.

For example the Internet has the capacity to provide remote communities and poorer countries with easy and cheap access to information, to facilitate major advances in health and education, to improve transparency and accountability, and to empower small businesses and organisations.

And basic cross-border communications have enabled personal and cultural connections to develop between billions of people.

Communications technologies have placed within our reach the economic potential to deliver an improved standard of living across the world. For the first time we may have the global tools, knowledge and capacity to tackle some of our most basic human needs, whilst simultaneously driving innovation and progress.

So globalisation need not be the fiend that some portray.

Of course the process of globalisation is not new. However, it is true to say that the rate of change in the last two to three decades has been dramatic.

In all sectors of society the impacts of globalisation have been felt. For example, international bank lending grew from $265 billion in 1975 to $4.2 trillion in 1994. Foreign Direct Investment expanded 20 times in 25 years, from $21.5 billion in 1972 to $400 billion in 1997. The Internet took only four years to reach 50 million users, compared to 13 years for television and 16 years for computers. International tourism doubled between 1980 and 1996, to 590 million travellers a year. International brands, sporting heroes and Hollywood stars are recognised in the poorest countries and the most remote regions whlist the plight of such regions is carried by satellite into the homes of the first world. In 1900 there were 180 international non-governmental organisations; today there are over 5,000. And man's discernible influence on the environment has global consequences that don't respect national boundaries.

Now, more than ever before, we need to work together to foster the possibilities of digital inclusion that globalisation could deliver.

We cannot - and, indeed, should not - turn back the clock and reverse globalisation. To do so would be to miss out on all the potential benefits of an interconnected world.

Rather, national and international society needs to harness globalisation for the better. We need to work with the grain of change rather than against it, and shape globalisation to meet our economic, social and environmental objectives.

Bt's premise is simple: globalisation can only succeed, and will only bring its many benefits, if it is aligned with the principles of sustainable development, enhances cultural diversity and respects a universal set of core international ethical standards.

A digitally enabled and literate world has much to offer and in BT we view the challenge of closing the 'digital divide' in terms of the three 'C's: connectivity, content and capability.

Connectivity is about providing access and this requires market conditions that encourage investment in the necessary infrastructure. In our experience an open, competitive market place is a pre-requisite.

But providing digital access is just the first stage in bridging the divide.

For access is pointless if the content can't be exploited to the economic and social benefit of the user. Currently most Internet content is in English and is aimed at people in the more wealthy sectors of society and the more wealthy nations.

The third critical element is capability. This covers the skills needed by people to use the Internet, by organisations and businesses to place suitable material on the web, and by telecommunication operators to create robust, efficient and economic infrastructure. It's in this last area that the CTO has played such an important role over the last century.

In BT we contribute to the three Cs in many ways.

In the UK we have established innovative ways of providing access to the disadvantaged in society, and have worked in partnership with government to deliver affordable connections into schools, libraries and deprived neighbourhoods.

We are helping the UK government to meet its ambitious target of all government services on line by 2005. And an exciting new project called Connected Earth will see the creation of the first web based museum to be underpinned by a series of major physical collections, distributed amongst a network of major museums. This unique combination will enable visitors to enjoy unlimited access to historic telecommunication materials of international importance, regardless of geography.

Our schools programme which aims at developing crucial communication skills for young people has now reached over 1 million pupils and its web site regularly receives over 500,000 visitors a month.

The Commonwealth has an important role to play in delivering this vision of a better, digitally connected world. We in BT have been proud to have contributed to the developments over the past 100 years and look forward to playing our part in the next.