The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) announced today the launch of its Internet Training Centres Initiative for Developing Countries (ITCI-DC), a multi-million dollar project aimed at closing the gap in Internet and "new economy" skills in developing countries. Under the initiative, ITU plans to establish 50 training centres to provide skills in Internet Protocol (IP) networking and services by July 2003 in existing non-profit institutions in developing countries. It is expected that the centres will also function as incubators to help small and medium-sized enterprises to develop Internet-related services.