Reuters reporter Thomas Atkins has an interesting piece which has the World Bank suggesting that the digital divide described by groups associated with the United Nations is not nearly so wide as once thought.
“People in the developing world are getting more access at an incredible rate — far faster than they got access to new technologies in the past,” Atkins wrote. “Half the world's population now enjoys access to a fixed-line telephone, the report said, and 77 percent to a mobile network — surpassing a [U.N. group's] campaign goal that calls for 50 percent access by 2015.”
Been all around the World Bank site but can't find the URL for the report that Atkins references. Anyone got a link?
http://www.worldbank.org/ict
As someone who is working on the bridging the 'digital divide' in Africa (did I just say that?), I'd have to say, 'duh'. I recall when my buddies returned from Somalia in '92, they were telling me that almost every Somali with a car had a cell phone, back in the North, I had only seen one on television… The truth is that the digital divide does not exist between the developed and undeveloped world, it exists between the poor and the rich in the developed world. From where I am sitting now, I can see kids who will never have a chance to use the internet, they will be lucky if they can read a book. Ian Howard, from Mali
Thanks, Ian — Great input.
I once did a piece for The Globe and Mail that described the work of some Canadian researchers who speak about a digital divide along gender lines. Their research showed that, in Canada, the digital divide along socioeconomic lines had narrowed considerably, that is, people of all income levels and social backgrounds seemed to have some access to new Internet and communications technologies. But they found that among high-school age students there was a much different attitude and takeup rate between boys and girls on ICTs. Sorry — the link's expired at The Globe site. I don't think the study is online either, but here's a link to the page describing the research