Digital Divide
Draft Sept 19
Digital Divide
Definition - Digital Divide
Some Haves and Some Have Nots
• Internet Services• Broad Band at Affordable Costs• Access to WEB Services• Freedom from Monitoring• Freedom from Crime• Legal Structure that supports
Internet commerce
Internet Services
• At work• At School• At home
Broad Band at Affordable Costs
• At Work– Permits access to world market to supply
• WEB Services• Product Designs• Low Cost Voice
• At School, especially at the university– Permits cooperative research– Allows Access to Open Courseware Initiatives
• At home– May be unmonitored access
Technical Access is insufficient
• Estimate that up to 75% of companies practice keystroke monitoring
• Some countries block worldwide Internet at the border
Why the Digital Divide
Rapid Growth of Broadband in rich and economically
growth oriented countries• US has target of universal broadband
access by 2007• China has had high speed
infrastructure plan for a decade• Hong Kong has had a plan to be high
speed feed for Asian area since the mid-1990's
Large Population Growth over next decade in poor
countries• Poor areas focus on food, medicine
before Internet• Internet infrastructure requires
– Wide Area Interconnect– Last Mile facilities– Computers for individuals– Appropriate Training starting at
elementary level and lasting through college
Opportunities of the Information Societies
India High Tech Commercial Growth
• Supported by (7) India Institutes of Technologies, National Centers for Software Technology
• Universities started in 1951• Commercial Investments such as IT design
center in Bangalore in early 1970's• Shipping bits by satellite link easier than
shipping physical products and higher value• Significant migration of work from US to India
Result
• Higher Paying jobs– Employees of off shore companies earn
8 times or more than employees of local companies
• Opportunity to Travel• Motivation• Opportunity to market World Wide
Problems of the Digital Divide
Actions to Improve the Situation
Demonstrate to Rich Societies
• The cost of poor nations– Increased pollution– Higher energy cost per person than for
efficient societies• The value of economically growing
societies– Lower Pollution– Lower energy cost per person– Become customers
Subsidize items that lead to self sufficiency
• Infrastructure• Technical Assistance• Offer scholarships to US universities• International Connection
International Connection