Digital Divide Draft Sept 19. Digital Divide Definition - Digital Divide

Digital Divide

Draft Sept 19

Digital Divide

Definition - Digital Divide

Some Haves and Some Have Nots

• Internet Services• Broad Band at Affordable Costs• Access to WEB Services• Freedom from Monitoring• Freedom from Crime• Legal Structure that supports

Internet commerce

Internet Services

• At work• At School• At home

Broad Band at Affordable Costs

• At Work– Permits access to world market to supply

• WEB Services• Product Designs• Low Cost Voice

• At School, especially at the university– Permits cooperative research– Allows Access to Open Courseware Initiatives

• At home– May be unmonitored access

Technical Access is insufficient

• Estimate that up to 75% of companies practice keystroke monitoring

• Some countries block worldwide Internet at the border

Why the Digital Divide

Rapid Growth of Broadband in rich and economically

growth oriented countries• US has target of universal broadband

access by 2007• China has had high speed

infrastructure plan for a decade• Hong Kong has had a plan to be high

speed feed for Asian area since the mid-1990's

Large Population Growth over next decade in poor

countries• Poor areas focus on food, medicine

before Internet• Internet infrastructure requires

– Wide Area Interconnect– Last Mile facilities– Computers for individuals– Appropriate Training starting at

elementary level and lasting through college

Opportunities of the Information Societies

India High Tech Commercial Growth

• Supported by (7) India Institutes of Technologies, National Centers for Software Technology

• Universities started in 1951• Commercial Investments such as IT design

center in Bangalore in early 1970's• Shipping bits by satellite link easier than

shipping physical products and higher value• Significant migration of work from US to India

Result

• Higher Paying jobs– Employees of off shore companies earn

8 times or more than employees of local companies

• Opportunity to Travel• Motivation• Opportunity to market World Wide

Problems of the Digital Divide

Actions to Improve the Situation

Demonstrate to Rich Societies

• The cost of poor nations– Increased pollution– Higher energy cost per person than for

efficient societies• The value of economically growing

societies– Lower Pollution– Lower energy cost per person– Become customers

Subsidize items that lead to self sufficiency

• Infrastructure• Technical Assistance• Offer scholarships to US universities• International Connection

International Connection