The Digital Divide
The Digital Divide refers to the phenomenon that some people have more access to technology to others, and therefore have an advantage that others do not. The original Digital Divide referred to simply computer access, but the modern day application of the Digital Divide, or the “New Digital Divide,” refers to something more complex. As technology becomes more complicated it is better to view access to technology as a spectrum, and not as a black and white, either/or concept.
Brigette Daniel, in her TED talk on the ‘New Digital Divide’, describes the former as an issue of people who don’t have that access or have limited access to modern technologies, making them underserved, and therefore lacking a vital resource. These people are, “the senior who has access to a computer but still doesn’t know how to use the internet to benefit his daily life, the independent filmmaker who can afford a $15 Netflix account, but can’t quite afford $100 for internet that’s bundled in a cable and home phone package, the young start up innovators who are working are the latest and greatest apps, but they have to still go to a local coffee shop in order to get fast cheap internet” (Daniel, 2016). Essentially, the New Digital Divide affects not one group of people, but many, and the way that it affects those groups is multifold.
Even in areas with developing economies the complexities of the New Digital Divide are apparent, if not more so than in developed economies like the US. While smartphone access can be hugely beneficial, even when people in emerging economies have access to smartphones there can be divides within that access. A Pew Research Center survey in eleven developing economies, including Lebanon, Venezuela, Kenya, and Vietnam found that the reasons the New Digital Divide may be worsening include having trouble getting a signal or accessing reliable data networks, being afraid of your mobile phone getting stolen, or that mobile phones are too complicated to use.
The factors that contribute to the Digital Divide involve three main components: education, income, and race. A household with higher levels of education is more likely to use computers and the internet. Telecommunication services are more easily available for wealthier communities, and telecommunication products like smartphones are obviously more easily affordable for wealthier people. In a study by Stanford researching the Digital Divide in the United States, they found that, “In the Hispanic community, it was observed that computers were a luxury, not a need,” and, “In the African American community, it was observed that African-Americans, historically, have had negative encounters with technological innovations. (Stanford Computer Science). Even in the United States, which is not a developing economy, there are important contributors to the complexity of the New Digital Divide.
Ultimately, the consequence of this divide is that those who find themselves on the wrong side of it suffer further economic, social, health, and political disparities resulting from disconnection (Mracek, 2018). Not having access to fast internet could be the difference between submitting a resume on time, and getting the job that you need to support your family. Not being able to use a smartphone could limit the communication options you have with others. It is now a fact that 82% of middle-skill jobs, or half of all the US’s jobs, require digital skills (Mracek, 2018). Some solutions to this problem come in the form of more community access centers, such as libraries, offering free internet, working with the community to spread awareness of this worsening issue, and price decreases of IT devices. However, the most effective catalyst would be the reframing of the internet as a human right, and not a privilege, in all countries.