UN officials pledged Thursday to bridge, the world's digital divide, bringing computers an

d Internet training to poorer countries before they fall further behind in technology and wealth. The Digital Service Corps initiative expands on a University of Pennsylvania pilot that sent three professors and 27 students to the West African country of Mall last spring. Four countries will be selected for visits in December.

In partnering with the private Global Technology Organization, the UN Office for Projects Services wants to reduce the gap separating nations with good technology from those without. "There are more Web sites originating here in New York than in all of Africa," said Reinhart Helmke, executive director of the UN agency. "There are more Web sites originating in Finland than in all of Latin America and the Caribbean." Helmke said the digital divide would be better described as a digital chasm. He said the global economy cannot be sustained if some countries are left out.

Neysan Rassekh, founder and president of Global Technology Organization, vowed to tackle the problem "country by country, town by town, citizen by citizen." The initiative carries no funding, however. The UN projects office, as a self-financing agency with a limited budget, will provide only management know-how: Rassekh's group, which organized the University of Pennsylvania group, plans to solicit(恳求) cash and equipment donations. For the Mall project, the university paid airfare and other expenses through fees that students pay to receive academic credit.

Eliminating the global divide won't be easy. Persuading foreign governments to buy computers instead of food can be tough, even though technology can reduce poverty and hunger in the long run, said Hafidh Chaibi, who promotes global access through the World of Knowledge Foundation in Orlando, Fla. Ernest Wilson, an international development specialist at the University of Maryland, said his research found information technology growing by 18 percent a year in developing countries, compared with 23 percent in industrialized nations. That means the gap continues to grow despite improvements through programs from the United Nations, the World Bank, the Markle Foundation and other organizations.

The UN announcement came as world leaders met at the UN Millennium Summit to discuss such challenges as peace, disarmament and access, to new technology. Over four weeks in May and June, the University of Pennsylvania volunteers set up four computer centers in Mall and trained 120 residents, mostly students and educators who could then teach others. Organizers are also setting up a Web site to help residents obtain information on education and health. The UN agency and its private partner plan to replicate that effort in 10 to 12 countries a year.

The "digital divide" as is used in the first passage refers to ______.

A．the gap in technology and wealth between poor and rich countries

B．inadequate training which technicians in poorer countries have received

C．the availability of computer and Internet technologies to different nations

D．the difference in the number of Web sites created in poor and rich countries