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The significance of the digital divide
THE POSITIVES AND NEGATIVES digital divide
THE POSITIVES AND NEGATIVES digital divide
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3- The Multifaceted "Digital Divide" A digital divide is an economic inequality between groups, broadly construed, in terms of access to, use of, or knowledge of information and communication technologies (ICT). The divide within countries can refer to inequalities between individuals, households, businesses, and geographic areas at different socioeconomic and other demographic levels, while the divide between countries is referred to as the global digital divide, which designates nations as the units of analysis and examines the gap between developing and developed countries on an international scale. (Chinn& Robert ,2004) ICT includes networking technologies, telecommunications and information technology (telephone, T.V., Internet, computers, etc.) that directly or indirectly influence our socio-economic, educational and cultural activities. It takes many forms: Digital divide between north and south, it also refers to inequalities in access to and use of ICT between urban and rural areas, and between genders. This form of digital divide is a consequence of the social divide which is reflected as a knowledge divide. (Ollivier, 2006) argued that the digital divide is a multiple and complex concept at the same time, because it reflects innumerable inequalities between men and women, rural area and urban areas, "haves" and "have-nots", taking into account the technological level, the rate of being connected, the number of machines, ICT budgets etc. It reflects also differences in economic development (GDP per capita, costs of computer equipment), technology (bandwidth) energy (electricity), industrial (low development software production) or language. This is the reason for which technological development and the improvement ... ... middle of paper ... ...there is a high degree of penetration of ICT and the Internet in some Arab countries who have good IDI ranking. Besides, such countries correspond, to a large extent, to those ranking high on the use and access IDI sub-indexes. Other Arab countries show a lower penetration value, indicated by lower IDI ranking, where access and use of ICT remains a challenge. Neither the results of the study conducted by ITU are surprising. Digital divide, in most cases, is resulting from preexisting gaps in society, which affect adoption and strengthening of new technologies. The main factors that cause it are the level of income and its distribution, and the provision of communications infrastructure and level of education. That is why the high IDI ranking Arab countries are mainly the Arabian Gulf countries that have a high income economy as compared with other Arab countries.
Bahira, s. (2014). the Manual for Measuring ICT Access and Use by Households and Individual.
As this critical juncture begins to take place, there has been much debate between scholars as to whether we should be enthusiastic or wary of these new changes. In Digital Disconnect and in his lectures, McChesney observes both views in an attempt to advance the discussion. On one side, the celebrants are embracing the Internet as a medium that will change society for the better. In Digital Disconnect, McChesney says, “In sum, the celebrants reaffirm one of the most important original arguments from the 1990s, that the Internet will be a force for democracy and good worldwide, ending monopolies of information and centralized control over communication” (McChesney 8). In my opinion, this celebrant view should only be regarded as a best-case scenario because of the unexpected obstacles for society that can...
Fandy, Mamoun. "Information Technology, Trust, and Social Change in the Arab World." Middle East Journal 54.3 (2000): 378. Print.
The phrase “digital divide” illustrates the fact that the world can be divide into people who do and people who do not have access to and/or the capability to use modern-day information technology, such as the telephone and the Internet. For instance, “78.6 percent of North America’s residents were Internet users, but only 13.5 percent of Africa’s population had this capability.” (Volti 2014). There have been attempts to close this opening of the digital divide by bringing reasonably priced mobile phones to these people and countries with limited access. For example, “in Africa are even able to use their phones as mobile banks that allows them to store money, transfer funds, and pay bills.” (Volti 2014).
In a society where we are more connected now than ever, the division is apparent,
Turkle, Sherry. "Digital Nation." Interview. PBS. PBS, 22 Sept. 2009. Web. 20 May 2014. .
There have been discussions among scholars in developed countries regarding economics of information. Developed countries includes Australia, New Zealand, United States, Ireland, Germany, Japan, Canada and many more are countries that have a high level of development according to some criteria. The criterion is income per capita; countries with high gross domestic product (GDP) per capita would thus be described as developed countries. Another economic criterion is industrialization; countries in which the tertiary and quaternary sectors of industry dominate would thus be described as developed. More recently another measure, the Human Development Index (HDI), which combines an economic measure, national income, with other measures, indices for life expectancy and education has become prominent. This criterion would define developed countries as those with a very high (HDI) rating.
Surveying the Digital Future: How the PC and Internet are changing the world. (1999, June). Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Center for Communication Policy.
Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "Will Smart Phones Eliminate the Digital Divide?" The Journal (1 Feb. 2011).
Saudi Arabia has developed rapidly in all sectors because of information and communication technology. ICT has significant impact in all sectors of economy of Saudi Arabia. It has also enabled the government to implement strategies that benefit citizens in terms of information technology that has led to high GDP and economic growth. The desert land that Saudi Arabia is known for has faded to an ICT hub. This is because of the strategic value that information technology has provided the country is insurmountable. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia exposes children to ICT at an early age through introduction of information and communication technology in schools so as to prepare them for the complex technological society that awaits them later in life.
ICT helps me with an lot of my everyday routine and jobs that I need
The concept of ICT is vaster than this. Although it is believed that radio and television play a less important role in education nowadays, some teachers and educators still consider them as an effective means of teaching. However, ICT is a totally new phenomenon; at the very beginning.
There are different types of technology; the most common type is information technology, which includes smart phones, computers/laptops, GPS and many other devices. Smart phones make it easier to reach people by calling, texting, chatting, Snap chatting and even
The Internet is helping to create storage of technology. It is also creating ways to use technology to better the education and knowledge of one of the poorest countries in the world. This country is India. The Internet itself can be a teacher through basic programming. Hewlett- Packard uses cloud enabled devices to teach remote areas of India, 21st century education. This allows for the students to improve. This includes all the fields that are taught in school, such as English, Math Science etc. Along with that, this allows for the poor community to spend less money on old technology or books that have been proven wrong or have obsolete data inside. The Internet is allowing for education to be cheaper and easier as well as encouraging the students into technology and science. Through the use of the Internet, the level of learning in science and mathematics has gone up considerably
The Impact of Information Technology on Individuals, Society and Organizations Information systems and information technology are important in supporting, maintaining and enriching many aspects of livings. They bring benefits to lives of individuals, operations of business and the functioning of society but there are also drawbacks associated with technology and information system. Both good and bad impacts of information system and technology to individuals, organisations and the society will be discussed in detail in the following paragraphs.