November 16, 2009

The Global Digital Divide

The network society is creating parallel communication systems: one for those with income, education and - literally - connections, giving plentiful information at low cost and high speed; the other for those without connections, blocked by high barriers of time, cost and uncertainty and dependent on outdated information. (UNDP, 1999: 63)



The principle of equality meets in the literature and debates about ICTs with a great deal of consensus. As the Independent Commission for World Wide Telecommunications Development (1984) states, it is in the interest of humanity that the majority of the world population is not excluded from the use of new technologies. The Commission, chaired by Sir Donald Maitland, writes in his report The Missing Link, 'that by the early part of the next century virtually the whole ofmankind should be brought within the reach of a telephone' (1986: 4). Yet, there seems general agreement in the scientific literature and in public policy statements that the leT gap between the developed and developing countries is widening and that thishinders the integration of all countries into the so-called Global Information Society. Nowhere in the world have the aspirations of the
Maitland report been achieved. Universal access has not been realized anywhere in the world! For some 5.7 billion people there are one billion telephone lines. In some 500 million households (34 per cent of the total in the world) there is a telephone. Early 1997 62 per cent of all telephone lines installed were in 23 rich countries with less than 15 per cent of the world's population. Although over half the population of poor countries lives in rural areas, some 80 per cent of all telephones are connected in the urban areas.

Unequal access holds for all new networks and services. In rich countries one finds 84 per cent of cellular phone users, 91 per cent of fax machines and 97 per cent of all Internet host computers. In 1999 there are an estimated 170 million people with access to the Internet. This represents some 4 per cent of the world population. Over 80 per cent are in North America and Europe.

Another indicator of present disparities are revenues from telecommunications services. In 1996 they reached a world total of US$620 billion. Europe, the USA and Japan combined 77 per cent of these revenues and the African countries a mere 1.5 per cent. Investments in the telecommunications sector show a similar distribution. In 1996 the world total is worth US$166 billion. Europe, the USA and Japan are responsible for 67 per cent of these investments and Africa for 1.7 per cent (ITU,
1998a).

The expenditures for electronic data processing per capita of the population show great variety across the world. In 1995 the world average was US$46. In the USA these expenditures were US$315, in Japan US$400, in Singapore US$1,500, in Brazil US$39, in Thailand US$29, and in India US$O.87 (Mansell and Wehn, 1998: 35). Large disparities can also be seen in the world trading of ICT. In 1996 the share in worldwide computer equipment imports for the USA, japan, Germany and the UK alone was 60 per cent. The share in worldwide computer equipment exports for the USA, Singapore, japan and the UK was 57 per cent. The share in tele communications equipment exports for the USA, japan, Germany, the UK, Sweden and Singapore was 60 per cent. The share in telecommunications equipment imports for the USA, Hong Kong, the UK, japan, Germany, China and Singapore was 58 per cent. The share in world imports of sound and TV recorders for the USA, Hong Kong, Germany, the UK and japan
was 67 per cent. The shares on the world market for computer software in 1996 of the USA (46.2 per cent), japan (11.4 per cent), Germany (8.6 per cent) and the UK (5.7 per cent) combined to 72 per cent.

Whatever the economic benefits of ICT deployment may be, at the present time the worldwide distribution of ICT resources is enormously unequal. In terms of availability, accessibility and affordability of equipment and services as well as the mastery of technical and managerial skills there are great disparities between affluent and developing countries, but also between different social groups within all countries. In the United States, for example, the 'digital divide' follows a clear geographic pattern: 'The West Coast and Eastern Seaboard from New Hampshire to Virginia are at the forefront of the 21st Century Economy. The Deep South and
the upper Midwest lag far behind' (Business Week, 2 August 1999: 39).

The present disparity is no new phenomenon. When new technologies are introduced in societies the chances to benefit from them are always unequally distributed. Some people will benefit, others will mainly experience the negative impact. This is a recurrent pattern. When a technology that promises financial benefits is introduced in social situations where unequal power relations prevail, a small group will enjoy advantages and the majority will often experience regressive development. Access to the global network society is mainly available to those with good education and those living in the OECD countries with sufficient disposable income.

In most countries men dominate access to the Internet and young people are more likely to have access than the elderly. Ethnicity is an important factor and in many countries the differences in use by ethnic groups has widened: 'English is used in almost 80 per cent of Websites and in the common user interfaces - the graphics and instructions. Yet less than 1 in 10 people worldwide speaks the language' (UNDP, 1999: 62).

From : Hamelink, Cees J. The Ethics of Cyberspace. SAGE Publications. 2000 (page : 81-82)

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