Professional Context of ICT

The Digital Divide

 What is the Digital Divide?
• The gap between individuals, households,
businesses and geographic areas at
different socio-economic levels with regard
both to their opportunities to access ICTs
and to their use of the Internet for a wide
variety of activities
• Socio-demographic barriers
– Income, education levels, gender, age,
disabilities
 The Digital Divide
• Concern is growing that society may
eventually become divided into 2 distinct
groups:
– One having access to technology and able to
obtain information from the Internet
– Others unable to gain access to technology
and information
 The broadband divide
• Concern that the current divide between
those with Internet access and those
without will be exacerbated with the rollout
of high-speed access and broadband
services
• This divide will become increasingly
important as the availability of advanced
telecommunications becomes essential
 Urban/rural divide
• Those without enhanced data capability
will be unable to access the benefits
expected particularly in relation to
education, health and government
services.
 International digital divide
• Exists between different countries
• Concern that people in the developing
countries will not enjoy the benefits of the
new knowledge-based economy
 Internet usage
• 60% of the adult population of Norway use
the Internet
• Less than 3% in Indonesia and Ukraine
• US = 60%
• Germany and UK = between 35-40%
 The Digital Divide
• Somalia
– 200 Internet Users out of 7 million
• South Africa
– 1.8 million Internet Users = 60% of all of those Internet
users located in Africa (Global Internet Liberty
Campaign, www.gilc.org)
• Africa
– 0.2% of population have Internet access
• Europe
– Expected to reach 230 million by 2004 = 60% of the
population (Nua Internet Surveys)
 The Digital Divide
• UK
– 13.5 million Internet users = 32% of homes
– 60% of the most well-off homes have Internet
access
– 10% of the bottom 40% can surf from home –
numbers are growing far more quickly among
the wealthier sections (Computer Weekly, 20
December, 2000)
– Implications for business – lack of suitably
qualified and experienced staff
 UK Users
• 94% of 16 - 24-year olds have used the Internet
• 17% of those over 65 have used the Internet
• Barriers
– Physiological effects of ageing, lack of confidence or
familiarity with new technologies, cost, location and a belief
by older people that e-services are of no relevance to them
– Design of Websites – an examination of 65 websites
revealed that none complied with all the criteria and only
25% passed test checking adherence with worldwide
standards

– Assignment = Go to web and find atleast 10 websites with adherence with

worldwide standards.
 USA Users
• 54% of the population used the Internet
• 90% of children aged 5-17 use computers
• 75% of 14-17 year olds and 65% of 10-13
year olds use the Internet
• Households
– Family income still a factor but
• Lowest income – increased at 25%
• Highest income – increased at 11%
 The Unconnected
• In the US non-users include:

– People in households with low family incomes

– Adults with low levels of overall education
– Blacks
 Latest world news on the Digital
Divide
• Africa’s total international bandwidth has
more than doubled in the last year
– Mobile has overtaken fixed-lines
• http://www.apc.org/english/rights/africa/news-content.shtml?x=6639

• Global Cities Dialogue (GCD) approved an

action plan for the development of
eGovernment services
– Has members in 41 countries and more than
100 cities worldwide
• http://www.globalcitiesdialogue.org
 The Digital Divide
• Does not merely mirror the divide between
developed and developing countries
– It reshapes the social map because it occurs
between individuals rather than countries or
whole societies
– It abolishes space and time constraints but
creates new technological barriers between
insiders and outsiders
• Technologies are not only tools but are
also vehicles of
– Affordances
– Values
– Interpretations of the surrounding reality
 Coping with the Digital Divide

• The DD disempowers, discriminates and

generates dependency

• Information Ethics is the new ecological

ethics for the information environment
 Sustainable development
• Sound construction of the infosphere must be
associated with an equally important, ethical
concern for the way in which the latter affects
and interacts with the physical environment

– Positive – telework as a solution for traffic and fuel

pollution
– Negative – rising energy consumption, ICT-
generated waste, computer-related forms of
illness.
 Bridging the Digital Divide
• How can this be done in developing
countries?
– Elimination of corruption
– Good governance - Application of the rule of
law, market liberalisation, fair competition, an
appropriate regulatory framework, and a well
functioning financial sector
• Key to establishing availability, accessibility and
affordability
– Capability – education
Johnston, 2001
 Government initiatives
• Demand stimulation measures
– Relevant local content, applications and services to
stimulate demand
• Available on the Internet, via call centres, electronic kiosks
and digital TV
– Identification of real service needs of regional, rural
and remote communities
– Developing community networks to stimulate demand
for enhanced services
– Provision of refurbished computers to those on low
incomes, including pensioners on Minimum Income
Guarantee
 Government initiatives
• Demand aggregation measures
– To aggregate customer demand sufficient to
warrant infrastructure investment
• Strategies to sustain demand and service
delivery
– Encouraging “social entrepreneurs” to “broker”
new strategic partnerships between the private
sector and communities
– Bringing access to people in the home, in
school and at work
 Conclusion
• The Digital Divide exists
• Access is still a major issue but …
– Offering the whole world a phone and a computer
screen will not in itself help to bridge the “digital
divide”
• Technology is worthless unless people are equipped with the
know-how and the willingness to use it
• Still a disparity between the richest and poorest
sectors of society.
• Still a discrimination against older and disabled
people
 Initiatives
• eEurope 2002 Action Plan
– Designed to bring Europe online as fast as possible
– Identifies successes plus remaining obstacles to the full
development of the information society in Europe
• UK Government Report on Digital Divide in deprived
areas (January, 2003)
– Proposes 21 recommendations to boost access to technology by
people from minority ethnic communities in deprived areas
• EU Commission
– urges Europe to move to broadband
– Invited all member states to commit to a comprehensive
broadband strategy
• New EU agency for cyber security proposed – February,
2003
– To prevent and respond to network and information security
problems
 Forthcoming Initiatives
• In December 2003 – World Summit and 21st
World Congress of Philosophy Conference
– Task
• to build a global consensus around a core of ethical values
and principles for the information society
• Fostering the formulation of universally recognized principles
and common ethical standards that will be a major
contribution to the construction of a better world.
– Goals -
• to extend the ethical concern to sensitize humanity to the
new ethical needs of intangible, intellectual environments,
and to indicate how the Digital Divide can be bridged
• To collaborate to develop a coherent and robust
environmental information ethics for the future of humanity.