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The term 'digital divide' refers
to the growing gap between those who can use new information
and communication tools, such as the internet, and those who
cannot. The gap is not just between North and South, but also
within countries and communities and is seen by some as one of
the most complex civil-rights challenges of the millennium.
The growing global
divide following the revolutionary advent of the internet is
caused by a lack of equal opportunities in accessing information,
knowledge and education.
In July 2000, ABC News noted that one in 20 people on
the planet were connected to the internet. The US is home to
more than 60 per cent of web users, despite representing only
5 per cent of the world's population. Meanwhile, Africa has barely
14 million telephone lines, less than Manhattan or Tokyo.
The overwhelming growth of the internet during the last few years
was shown in a July 2000 study made by B.H. Murray and A. Moor
from Cyveillance, a company that supplies electronic business
information. At that time there were 2.1 billion websites, with
a daily growth rate of 7.3 million sites. More recently, the
search engine Google recorded the existence of more than 4.2
billion sites.
Inequity in internet access is not confined to countries with
uneven economic characteristics, but is also within areas of
similar economic development, like Europe and the US, and even
between residents of the same country, due to differences arising
from income, ethnic origin, education or age.
Unfair costs
The growth of the digital divide has caused great concern among
international organizations, non-governmental organizations and
also corporations, since Southern countries - with few resources
to benefit economically from the new ICTs - may fall even further
behind in the information revolution.
A study by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO),
an intergovernmental agency which administers treaties protecting
human creations, published on January 2003 by Revista del
Sur magazine (www.redtercermundo.org.uy/revista_del_sur/) concluded that the global
intellectual property system could be used to reduce the digital
divide between industrialized and technologically developing
countries. Data cited in the study illustrated the size of the
divide: the cost of accessing telecommunications infrastructures
varies between countries and regions, although the usually higher
prices in developing world countries puts them at a disadvantage
regarding the speed and growth of electronic commerce. For example,
the monthly connection charge to the internet in Nepal amounts
to 278 per cent of the population's average monthly income; in
Sri Lanka it equals 60 per cent; in the US it hardly reaches
1.2 per cent.
The Geneva Summit
On June 18, 2003, at the conference 'The Net World Order: Bridging
the Global Digital Divide', United Nations Secretary-General
Kofi Annan addressed business leaders on the role of industry
in bridging the divide. This paved the way for the World Summit
on the Information Society (WSIS), held in Geneva in December,
2003. The 'Declaration of Principles' of the WSIS, 'Building
the Information Society: A Global Challenge in the New Millennium',
had three parts:
1) Our common vision of the information society
2) An information society for all: key principles
3) Towards an information society for all based on shared knowledge.
After a series of considerations, which include references to
articles 19 and 29 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(on freedom of speech and the rights of individuals towards the
community), paragraph 10 under the first heading states:
'We are… fully aware that the benefits of the information
technology revolution are today unevenly distributed between
the developed and developing countries and within societies.
We are fully committed to turning this digital divide into a
digital opportunity for all, particularly for those who risk
being left behind and being further marginalized.' Paragraph
17 says: 'We recognize that building an inclusive Information
Society requires new forms of solidarity, partnership and cooperation
among governments and other stakeholders, ie the private sector,
civil society and international organizations. Realizing that
the ambitious goal of this Declaration - bridging the digital
divide and ensuring harmonious, fair and equitable development
for all - will require strong commitment by all stakeholders,
we call for digital solidarity, both at national and international
levels.'
The second meeting of the WSIS will take place in Tunis on December
2005.
Big fish on the
net
Appealing to corporate leaders seems to be the main way of addressing
the issue at present. Leaders from the Group of Eight
most industrialized countries in the world (G-8) set up a Digital Opportunity
Task Force (DOT Force) in 2000 to find ways of bridging
the divide between technologically developed and underdeveloped
countries (www.dotforce.org). One of the DOT Force's goals
is to foster the development of a communications infrastructure
in Southern countries, incorporating them to the economic revolution
caused by the internet. The Task Force brought together governments
from around the world with the leading lights in information
technology, media, communications and entertainment from many
different parts of the world.
But there are also many critics who hold that globalization -
understood within a context of the cultural effects of communications
technology - simply reinforces and expands the colonization of
the Southern countries by the North, while increasing the divide
between the rich and the poor. They also feel that, although
information technology is conducive to economic prosperity, it
fails to foster social equity. There are a number of interest
groups which maintain that the efforts to bridge the digital
divide respond to commercial and marketing interests rather than
the purported equal distribution of the benefits of technology,
thus conditioning internet content.
The subordination of
cultural and social interests by corporate interests is evident
in the March 2004 conflict between Microsoft and the European
Commission.
According to the Commission, Microsoft has not given enough information
to the competition about its Windows operating system and has
hindered the incorporation of competing audiovisual software
into its system. Both Microsoft and the EC have tried unsuccessfully
to reach an agreement and, according to various sources, negotiations
continue. Press reports noted that the Commission's draft decision
demands that Microsoft shares information with its rivals and
offers computer manufacturers a more user-friendly version of
Windows.
Digital opportunity vs Pokemon
According to a magazine article written by Andy Carvin (www.infotoday.com/MMSchools/Jan00/carvin.htm)
the digital divide
is one of the most serious civil-rights challenges of the new
millennium. Carvin belongs to the Benton Foundation (a Washington DC-based organization which
promotes awareness of the digital divide). He is also co-editor of the Digital
Opportunity Channel (wwwdigitalopportunity.org), an internet gateway focused
on the use of information technologies for sustainable development.
One of the main objectives is to see that the internet's power
to mobilize and distribute alternative ideas does not vanish
due to a lack of resources or massive marketing by corporate
campaigns. According to Carvin, the digital divide is a five
piece puzzle: access, contents, literacy, education and community.
1.Access: The internet has sufficient potential to bring its
users new capacities and perspectives. Not having this technology
means being relegated to the fringes of public life.
2. Content: Until the internet has content with real value for
all its potential users, it will remain a place for an elite.
If most of what we find on the Net is online shopping, pornography,
or Pokemon trade clubs, one could assume that having access or
no access to the internet was not so important. Although the
World Wide Web is a place with great variety, it pales in comparison
when confronted to the rich cultural diversity of real-world
humanity.
3. Literacy: The digital divide is related to illiteracy levels
in underdeveloped countries, but it is also one of the US's 'dirty
little secrets'. Carvin reminds us that a functional illiteracy
exists in his country. Millions of youth and adults - 44 million,
one out of four in 1993 -have serious difficulties in filling
out forms, following written instructions or even reading a newspaper.
Another important parameter to consider when it comes to internet
use is computer literacy and its significance.
4. Education: Internet school access lacks meaning if teachers
are not trained to benefit from the technology. Carvin argues
that teachers who use interaction as a teaching tool are more
inclined to use the internet. However, obsolete teaching practices
are not interested in interaction in the classrooms, excluding
the Net from schools.
5. Community: The digital divide is related to whether or not
we foster internet use in the community. Public spaces/forums
are needed in the internet in order for people to get together
without being overwhelmed by advertisers. If individuals are
not able to build meaningful ties online, it is difficult for
them to be attracted to the Net.
*Published
in The World Guide
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