Digital Divide

According to Margaret Rouse (2015), the digital divide is defined as the breach between regions and demographics that have access to modern communication and information technologies and those that do not have access at all or only have restricted access. She lists examples as personal computers, the internet and more basic elements such as telephones and television. 

The divide is more-over defined in terms of an individual, group, city province or country’s access to Information Communications Technologies (ICT) and not only determined by the access that an individual or group has to the internet, as stated on www.internetworldstats.com. 

The gap can take varying forms, such as access to no communication technologies or basic communications technologies and access to more advanced technologies. Intertwined with this are the levels of general literacy and computer literacy. 

There are several issues pertaining to the digital divide. For the most part socio-economic factors and how developed a country is are the largest contributing factors (Nepomuceno, 2012). In terms of economic factors, income level has provided some indication of the level of internet users per country. Individuals with a higher income account for 65.5% of internet usage per country, where low income individuals only account for 5.6% of internet usage, (Nepomuceno, 2012). Nepomuceno viewed these statistics in terms of the opportunities that there are in terms of ITC to overcome this divide. Including ICT in basic education and introducing distance learning to remote areas, and setting up tele-centres in remote areas, (2012). 

Nepomuceno also states that in terms of education there are several input factors, process factors and hum factors that contribute and account for the divide and solutions to the divide. Input factors include access to hardware and software, the level of connectivity (networks, internet), the quality of the software used, additional materials and resources required in terms of ICT and general education. Process factors include the motivation and purpose of the use of ICT – will ICT be used on a basic level (basic computer literacy) or more advanced level (advanced applications) or for entertainment purposes (movies and games)? Human factors include the existing level of ICT knowledge or skill of the users and their level of confidence in their abilities and the hardware and software that they are using.