A/69/264 III. Information and communication technologies and violence against children: minimizing risks and releasing children’s potential 65. The Special Representative identified the opportunities and risks associated with information and communication technologies (ICTs) as a priority concern for her mandate (see A/68/274, paras. 63-65). This topic was equally highlighted by several countries in their responses to the global survey on violence against children. Indeed, Governments stressed the importance of adapting laws, policies and practices to the evolving challenges generated by fast-developing technology, and expressed the need for research, data and international cooperation forums where common concerns could be addressed. 66. To reflect on these questions, the Special Representative organized an international expert consultation in June 2014, in San Jose, Costa Rica. The consultation was informed by research conducted with children in Europe and Latin America, and by the growing body of knowledge and experience of a wide range of actors participating in the meeting, including Governments, United Nations agencies, national independent institutions for children’s rights, and representatives from civil society, academia and the private sector. 67. The Special Representative’s upcoming report entitled “ICTs and violence against children: minimizing risks and releasing children’s potential” builds upon this process. The sections below highlight key dimensions of that report. Children and the digital world 68. Travelling faster and communicating better were the aspirations behind many of the greatest human inventions: the wheel, paper, the printi ng press, the steam engine, the telephone, the airplane, the Internet. Today, ICTs offer endless opportunities to both adults and children to connect to knowledge and people. At the same time, as with previous inventions, the technology is often associated with some degree of fear or apprehension, because of real or imagined inherent risks. 69. In 1989, when the Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted by the General Assembly, the Internet was still in its infancy. It was during that same year that the World Wide Web was developed, providing a new technique for distributing online information. The term Internet had been used for the first time only seven years earlier. 70. The reach of the Internet has increased ever since. By the end of 2014, the number of Internet users will have reached almost 3 billion, with two thirds of them living in countries in the South, where the number of users will have doubled in only five years. 71. ICTs have profound effects upon societies around the world. They bri dge physical distance, create new ways of communicating, learning, doing business and delivering services. For children and young people, ICTs represent an enormous opportunity, offering new means of experiencing creative processes of education, social interaction and entertainment. Children recognize the potential of online information, and many understand digital literacy to be an important skill for their adult life. 14/23 14-58801