International Digital Divide

What Is The Digital Divide?
In recent years we have seen huge changes in the ICT technology we use both at home and elsewhere. These include social, cultural, educational and economic benefits. But the same change has not been seen to the same extent worldwide. For example Africa, which has many LEDCs. For a continent with 841,546,000 million people, only 1.6% are Internet users. This is in contrast with a MEDC such as UK that is 69%.

So the Digital Divide is the difference in usage and interaction with the Internet and other modern technology that we often use every day.

Who Are Most Affected By The Digital Divide?
There are two sides to this divide. Firstly there are those who are on the beneficial side of the divide. Such as the UK. For we use technology for many uses, not only work. We use them to communicate via E-Mail, education using online learning sites and having this technology has allowed us to keep up with important news and vital reports, with the use of news sites and blogs. But there is also a section of the world who don’t have the access to the same technology we do. The prime example is Afghanistan, where only 580,000 people have access to Internet. But in a country with a population of 32,738,376, only 1.7% who can access to the Internet.

One reason for this is the economical state of the country. Afghanistan has an external debt of $8 billion. This is coupled with an unemployment rate of 40% and the total number of the population who live below the poverty line is 53%. This could mean that the Afghan people who live below the poverty line or who are unemployed may not be able to afford the equipment required to run a computer.

Where Can Improvements Be Made To Close The Gaps
So what is being done to bridge the digital divide? There are organisations and projects being set up worldwide to reduce this divide. One such organisation is ‘One Laptop Per Child’. OLPC is a U.S. non-profit organization set up to oversee the creation of a cheap, affordable educational device for use in the developing world. The company’s focus is on the development, construction and deployment of the XO-1 laptop to promote children's education in developing nations. This will allow these students to have increased knowledge for when the technology becomes available for home use to the whole population.

Examples Of How Improvement Is Happening
Having all these organisations and projects in place is well and good, but are they making any difference? Well after some research I have come across a story of how the ‘One Laptop Per Child’ association has help children in Brazil.

I have added the link to the story below
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7647114.stm