Bridging the Digital Divide

THE DIGITAL DIVIDE

The revolution in technology has given majority of the people access to information , but it has also created a barrier for those who have no access to technology . This digital divide is depriving a great number of people who are neither skillful nor have means to access the technology and information . Even though 21st century is declared as knowledge based society the reality is far from true . The digital divide is seen as a social and political problem in developing and developed countries . The digital divide occurs not only

due to lack of access to Information , but it 's the wider differences in communities which has widened the gap

Internet access was an issue in the early days of IT revolution , but advancement in internet has made technology cheaper and affordable especially after the arrival of internet cafys . Another issue is lack of computer knowledge despite basic education a lot of people don 't not know , how to use internet . One issue is to train people in computer skills enabling them to read and write and search information effectively through regular use . Today digital divide is going beyond the developed countries boundaries creating global digital divide among the different economic zones of the world

There are two main blocks countries with greater access to internet and are dependent on internet for jobs and education while the countries that lack technology cannot compete in global economies

The core problem lies not only in acquiring the software and hardware but also the affordability and the lack of technical support for the neglected segments of societies . Despite the boom in access to information and communication technology in 1990s and the rise of internet users from 700 million users to 2 .5 billion users the divide is deep and the communication resources are divided between have and have not 's . This divide is visible not only in the countries , but also within the urban rich and poor within the same country and region and city . This divide is gaining attention due to dependence on information and communication which are most important pillars of modern economies The issue of digital divide is more related to the social factors , such as economic and political condition and cultural inequalities which thrive on this division

The Clinton Administration took serious notice of the issue in 1996 and developed several strategies to overcome the issue of digital divide The core issue was to involve , federal government , state governments and the corporate world to develop programs for communities

Similarly state governments also helped in providing computers and training programs for students to overcome the barrier however this strategy did not work well to overcome the issue . A better approach is support from the community based models

Corporations have come up with product and services which cater to the development of the cheaper technology and solutions . For example there has been development of cheaper computers and software for the poor segment of society , in which they have been...