Digital divide

Recently I read some articles and have some thoughts on digital divide.

“Digital divide’ is the term used to refer to the gap between those who can effectively use new information and communication technologies and those who cannot (Hubregtse 2005).

Some people believe new Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) can help poorer countries to accelerate development because they have access to lower cost and easier-to-use technology as later adopters (Shin, Kraemer & Dedrick 2008). And they can learn from the experiences from developed countries who have already adopted the technologies (Shin, Kraemer & Dedrick 2008).

However, studies showed that ICT investment has a positive and significant relationship with productivity growth at the macroeconomic level in developed countries, not in developing countries (Shin, Kraemer & Dedrick 2008). The difference of productivity in developed and developing countries is becoming bigger and bigger in recent decades.

The factors contributing to this continuously growing gap between developed countries and developing countries may include poverty, lack of infrastructure, low awareness of ICT, and particular political, cultural and language reasons.

One of the most important factors might be developing countries are lack of technological infrastructure (Hubregtse 2005; Shih, Kraemer & Dedrick 2008). Research found out that digital divide exists in terms of the installation of telephone lines instead of internet (Dasgupta, Lall & Wheeler 2005). Manhattan has more telephone connections than the whole Africa (Hubregtse 2005). Usually two out of three telephones in Africa are out of order (Hubregtse 2005). This reflects digital divide dose not only accompany new technologies but is a longstanding problem of the availability of mainline telecom services in developing countries (Dasgupta, Lall & Wheeler 2005).

Unfortunately installing ICT infrastructures requires lots of money while many developing countries are still suffering poverty. For example, it has been said that money is the single most important factor in bringing the internet to the African continent. When basic educational and health services satisfying human beings’ basic needs remain scarce, it is difficult to acquire ICT service to satisfy higher level of needs. therefore international aid is a necessary solution.

Moreover, governmental attitude towards ICT is another factor determining how much investment new ICT can receive. Thus it is very important to raise awareness in developing countries about ICT as an important tool guiding national development policies. Moreover, the benefits of ICT should be realised by the citizens as a whole, not just by the government (Ono 2006). Educating exhibitions and programs in museums can be one feasible solution to raise social awareness.

Language may be another factor that differentiates one country’s access and use of ICT (Ono 2006). Over 90 percent of online content is in English, which may have become a barrier to access for non-English-speaking groups (Ono 2006).

Bibliography:

Dasgupta, S, Lall, S & Wheeler, D 2005, ‘Policy reform, economic growth and the digital divide’, Oxford Development Studies, vol. 33, no. 2, June. No page references.

Hubregtse, S 2005, ‘ the digital divide within the European Union’, New Library World, vol. 106, no. 3/4, pp. 164-72.

Ono, H 2006, ‘Digital inequality in East Asia: Evidence from Japan, South Korea and Singapore’, Asian Economic Papers, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 116-39.