While the issue of the digital divide had been addressed by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) since the mid-1980s, the United Nations as a whole started its efforts in the 1990s.
自1980年代中期以来，国际电信联盟(电信联盟)一直在处理数字鸿沟问题，而且整个联合国在1990年代就已开始从事此方面的努力。