The digital divide
This week I am going to discuss the digital divide and its implications on the promotion of IT use in the world. I am also focusing on ways of ‘bridging the gap’
The digital divide refers to the fact that not everyone in society is able to have access to the newest technology that is available to the public. It has often been referred to as ‘social exclusion’.
The job market and schools
The digital divide is a major issue to control and monitor because there are a range of factors that influence the size of the divide. One of the more increasingly worrying factors is the job market. There are several people in England along that cannot afford to buy a computer and continue using it on a yearly basis. However this builds up a very large problem in terms of employment because the majority of the jobs that are available now in some way require the employee to be able to use IT in their work. Applying for a job will be seemingly impossible when facing competition from people who are very comfortable with using IT. The question is how can people continue to live without being given the provision to use IT in their lives?
In terms of education, how is a disadvantaged student going to possibly make any progress in their school if they are constantly being told to use IT to improve your work when they have very little access to it in school? My personal view of this is that the disadvantage students either have to be offered a compromise or being given the provision to be able to use a computer. I am aware that there is a small minority of these students, however each child should not have to experience that barrier to learning and it should be the duty of local councils to make sure each household is able to have access to a computer and continue to be able to run that luxury.
Many have often termed the digital divide as “the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer” If you think about this quote it is probably correct, small businesses cannot hope improve their image without IT meaning that poorer people are now worst off than these businesses that have the use of IT to promote their image. For these disadvantage people/communities lack of communication technology+ communication= lack of knowledge and less influence/power. In terms of education and in the work place without gaining extra knowledge how do we know if something we are told is accurate?
What can be done to counter this?
The government department DFEE (department for education and employment) has decided upon investing in a series of pilot projects to those areas that have been perceived to be affected negatively by the digital divide. Many people will initially perceive that urban areas are unaffected by the divide, however this is not the case as the divide affects both rural and urban communities. The following areas are those which are being targeted for improvement. They have invested an estimated 10 million pounds into this project in the hope of helping to ‘bridge the gap’.
· Kensington, Liverpool- this is considered as one of the country’s most disadvantaged urban communities. The department is planning to get over 400 households connected to 2000 personal computers.
· The carpenter estate, east London- 750 houses and local primary schools will be connected.
· Framlingham, Suffolk – 1,500 homes and the local schools will be connected.
· BeconNet- Manchester-4,500 homes are being planned to be connected along with the local schools.
· Whitebirk estate, Blackburn- 2,500 homes will be connected along with the local schools.
· Alston-Cumbria-1,500 homes will be connected across 3 homes and farmlands along with primary and secondary schools.
· Brampton upon Dearne, Yorkshire, 1,500 houses will be connected along with every child being provided with a free laptop.
My personal view on this scheme
However although this initially sounds an excellent scheme the problem is still unsolved. Many of these people probably have never seen a computer or know how to use it, so what can be done about that? To counter this kind of problem are there going to be places where people can go and learn the simple basics of using a computer? However this raises more issues in that more money is going to need to be invested to train these people how to use the technology that they have been given.
Similar projects are been developed in Nottingham and Hull, where local councils can take advantage of good cables and telecoms to provide people living in those areas with the internet and interactive TV.
Will all of this technology make a difference to society?
By implementing these plans for the continued development of the country the government is sending out a clear message that it hopes that the project will find success. The UK government issued a report last year to highlight the key benefits that the project will bring:
· Acquiring knowledge and developing skills.
· Developing confidence and strengthen the community cohesion.
· Pursing leisure interests and hobbies.
· Publishing user’s experiences and opinions.
· Supporting the development of small businesses.
The “wired communities “project is aimed at not providing the answers to solving the digital divide, but in assessing the opportunities that can be explored by disadvantage communities to assist in education, work and leisure.
World-wide scale
Governments all around the world are starting to take action against the problems that the digital divide has caused. One particular approach to tackle this problem is located in Arizona, USA. The TOPAZ project (Telecommunications Open Partnerships of Arizona). This project aims at providing broadband access to rural communities across Arizona. The project is expected to invest $100 million to help support local agencies through a statewide carrier service.
Arizona has teamed up with 9 contracted telecommunications services to provide this service. The communities are encouraged to support the service, promote the service and help to financially support governments, health services, education services etc. This is known as the ‘business case ‘by continuing the provide this service on a regular basis.
