The "digital divide" has been defined as the disparity between those who have access to computers and technology and those who don't. The problem is multi- faceted, encompassing various socio-economic and political factors. However, the role of character encoding and its importance in building the needed infrastructure so users can communicate electronically in their own script (and so governments can publish minority language materials) are often overlooked in the media. The Script Encoding Initiative at UC Berkeley was created to help draw attention to Unicode and how it can make scripts of any culture accessible. SEI funds script proposals for those scripts not in Unicode, focusing particularly on the scripts of minority language users, who have often been without digital access. Both public and private funds are critical to support this effort for the long-term, and endorsement from computer professionals is needed. With such support, many of the user communities will no longer be "locked out" of the digital revolution. The business benefit of the project can be realized by the possible sales to smaller markets but more importantly as a humanitarian effort that will help aid in education, communication in times of disease or disaster, cultural preservation and pride, and an improvement for the world as a whole.