The Digital Divide

The following entry is in response to: “Your textbook makes little of the digital divide. Given events of the past four years since it was written, update your textbook with a Case Study that illustrates the debate on the digital divide.”

The digital divide is a gap theory, which serves to explain the inequalities which exist globally in society, due to diversity in socioeconomic levels and resources. These inequalities mainly occur between businesses, geographical locations, individuals, education levels and most relevant, information and communication technologies (ICT) (Norris, 2001). It has been suggested that there are three main divides between; developed and under-developed locations, the information rich and information poor, and those who do and do not utilise technology to further political participation (Norris, 2001). The lack of ICT in certain locations, has seemingly been pin pointed as the foundation of the existing digital divide. 

In the late 1990’s, the digital divide exacerbated and was identified to be increasingly problematic. This was due to advancements in ICT, particularly the internet and the observation that approximately half the population had not yet adapted the new technology (Milanovic, 2005). One of the largest impacts which inequality in ICT has, is the consequent inability for some to acquire knowledge (Fallis, 2004). The implication of this is, those who have the means, have an education as well as increased resources at their disposal. On the other hand, those who are economically disadvantaged have less education and fewer resources to acquire knowledge. As a result, experts are constantly looking for new ways to overcome the existing divide.

Implementing digital technologies into developing countries has been recognised as a stepping stone, yet is critiqued for not being sufficient enough to narrow the divide. Critics have suggested that, “digital initiatives also need to include affordability, local capacity, relevant content and services, socio-cultural factors, legal and regulatory framework, economic environment, and political will” (Rao, 2001, para1). Therefore, introducing ICT into economically disadvantaged areas of the world, has been selected as a starting point to try and bridge the present gap, or the digital divide (APF, 2008). It is recognised that an innovative, long term plan needs to be developed in order to effectively implement ICT. Suggestions to be included in this plan include, “effective ICT integration, and a legal and regulatory framework that foster ICT use (Rao, 2001). Without regulatory bodies to demonstrate effective use and adaption of ICT, critics fear that the existing inequalities will only be exacerbated (Rao, 2011).

The ‘Thai Budget PC Project’ is a successful example which demonstrates the positive outcome, when ICT is implemented effectively. Thailand is a developing country who recognised the technology gap, present within their society. The project started in 2003, with only 4% of their population owning computers and 10% using the internet (Sawangsamud, 2007). In order to bridge their digital divide, their government decided to; provide an an affordable computer, lower internet costs, promote broadband access and leverage internet cafe’s (Sawangsamud, 2007). They reduced computer prices from what were $500 at the time, to $250 or $25 a month, for 12 months. Internet prices were also reduced to $0.25 per month, along with the initial five hours of access free of charge (Sawangsamud, 2007). They were sure to maintain international standards with their systems and software, by a starter pack developed by Microsoft. Following the success of this project, the starter pack has also been implemented in; India, Spain, Russia, Malaysia and Indonesia (Sawangsamud, 2007). The table below illustrates the success of the ‘Thai Budget Project.’ 

The digital divide presents inequalities, which have huge implications for the world at large. This issue has become globally recognised by many experts and governing bodies, who are constantly formulating new ideas, endeavoring to bridge the gap. The strategic implementation of ICT, into developing countries, has been pin pointed as an effective step to closing the digital divide. This goal is still in relatively early stages and it will take many years to witness significant change on a global level. Implementing ICT has already seen success stories within selected countries and it will be interesting to observe further results in years to come. 

References

Africa Partnership Forum (APF). (2008). ICT in Africa: Boosting Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction. Retrieved 28 November, 2011 from http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/46/51/40314752.pdf

Fallis, D. (2004). Social Epistemology and the Digital Divide. Tuscan, AZ: School of Information Resources. 

Milanovic, B. (2005). Worlds Apart: Measuring International & Global Inequality. Princeton: Princeton Uni Press.

Norris, P. (2001). Digital divide: Civic engagement, information poverty and the Internet world- wide. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge Univ. Press.

Rao, M. (2001) Spanning the Digital Divide: Understanding and Tackling the Issues. Retrieved 28 November, 2011 from http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs/background/general/reports/26092001_bridges.htm

Sawangsamud, J. (2007) Thai Budget PC Project: The Bridging Digital Divide Case Study. Retrieved 29 November, 2011 from http://www.aoss2007.org/files/u1/LowcostPC.pdf

Media

ICT: Getting Connected to Sustainability (2009). Retrieved 29 November, 2011 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yzk1CCLqFvQ