Reducing the digital divide between countries and combating hackers who seek to ravage the Internet were two of the pledges made Friday by two government panels formed to accelerate the spread of information technology.

The five main goals of the government's IT policies were confirmed at a joint meeting of the two panels -- a council on the promotion of advanced information and telecommunications technology and a panel of experts that advises the prime minister.

The council -- headed by Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori -- and the advisory panel also examined the degree of progress in the introduction of a plan comprising IT promotion measures endorsed by the government in April 1999, officials said.

Steps to ensure the spread of IT and lessen the digital divide are expected to be discussed at July's Group of Eight summit in Okinawa.

As well as detailing the measures in the plan, officials briefed the meeting's attendees on the recent submission to the Diet of a bill that would give state backing to a plan to create a Web system under which the identity of e-commerce users could be confirmed, they said.

The officials also updated the attendees on the progress in the drafting of a bill to protect personal information on citizens, which may become vulnerable to leaks as a result of the spread of IT, they said.

The bill is to be put forward in the regular Diet session that convenes in January.