Editing Digital divide (section)

==Solutions==
In the year 2000, the [[United Nations Volunteers]] (UNV) program launched its Online Volunteering service,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Online Volunteering |url=https://onlinevolunteering.org/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928120728/http://www.onlinevolunteering.org/ |archive-date=September 28, 2020 |access-date=December 19, 2014}}</ref> which uses ICT as a vehicle for and in support of volunteering. It constitutes an example of a volunteering initiative that effectively contributes to bridge the digital divide. ICT-enabled volunteering has a clear added value for development. If more people collaborate online with more development institutions and initiatives, this will imply an increase in person-hours dedicated to development cooperation at essentially no additional cost. This is the most visible effect of online volunteering for human development.<ref>Acevedo, Manuel. 2005. [http://www.worldvolunteerweb.org/fileadmin/docdb/pdf/2006/Acevedo_Volunteering_in_the_Information_Society_2005.pdf Volunteering in the information society] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151201174750/http://www.worldvolunteerweb.org/fileadmin/docdb/pdf/2006/Acevedo_Volunteering_in_the_Information_Society_2005.pdf|date=December 1, 2015}}, Research paper.</ref>

Since May 17, 2006, the [[United Nations]] has raised awareness of the divide by way of the [[World Information Society Day]].<ref>[http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/resources/news-and-in-focus-articles/in-focus-articles/ United Nations Educational] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181109135625/http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/resources/news-and-in-focus-articles/in-focus-articles/|date=November 9, 2018}} UNDay</ref> In 2001, it set up the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Task Force.<ref>[https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2001/dev2353.doc.htm "UN Information and Communication Technologies (ITC) Task Force Launched Today at Headquarters"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050621130258/http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2001/dev2353.doc.htm|date=June 21, 2005}}, Press Release, United Nations (New York), November 20, 2001</ref> Later [[UN]] initiatives in this area are the [[World Summit on the Information Society]] since 2003, and the [[Internet Governance Forum]], set up in 2006.

As of 2009, the borderline between ICT as a [[necessity good]] and ICT as a [[luxury good]] was roughly around US$10 per person per month, or US$120 per year,<ref name="HilbertWD38,5">{{Cite journal| last1 = Hilbert| first1 = Martin| title = When is Cheap, Cheap Enough to Bridge the Digital Divide? Modeling Income Related Structural Challenges of Technology Diffusion in Latin America| doi = 10.1016/j.worlddev.2009.11.019| journal = World Development| volume = 38| issue = 5| pages = 756–770| year = 2010| url = http://martinhilbert.net/CheapEnoughWD_Hilbert_pre-print.pdf| access-date = July 9, 2012| archive-date = May 2, 2013| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130502212222/http://martinhilbert.net/CheapEnoughWD_Hilbert_pre-print.pdf| url-status = live}}</ref> which means that people consider ICT expenditure of US$120 per year as a basic necessity. Since more than 40% of the world population lives on less than US$2 per day, and around 20% live on less than US$1 per day (or less than US$365 per year), these income segments would have to spend one third of their income on ICT (120/365 = 33%). The global average of ICT spending is at a mere 3% of income.<ref name="HilbertWD38,5" /> 
Potential solutions include driving down the costs of ICT, which includes low-cost technologies and shared access through [[Telecentre]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The role telecentres play in providing e-government services in rural areas |last1=Furuholt |first1=Bjorn |last2=Saebo |first2=Oystein |date=December 21, 2017 |journal=The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries |volume=84 |pages=e12006 |doi=10.1002/isd2.12006 |s2cid=168906716 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://informationr.net/ir/4-2/isic/ellen.html |title=The role of telecentres in the provision of community access to electronic information |last=Ellen |first=Debbie |publisher=Manchester Metropolitan University |access-date=November 18, 2022 |archive-date=June 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220617152321/http://informationr.net/ir/4-2/isic/ellen.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2022, the US [[Federal Communications Commission]] started a proceeding "to prevent and eliminate digital discrimination and ensure that all people of the United States benefit from equal access to broadband internet access service, consistent with Congress's direction in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.<ref name="fcc">{{Cite web |date=2022-02-23 |title=Preventing Digital Discrimination in Broadband Access |url=https://www.fcc.gov/document/preventing-digital-discrimination-broadband-access |access-date=2022-04-05 |website=Federal Communications Commission |language=en |archive-date=March 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220309150802/https://www.fcc.gov/document/preventing-digital-discrimination-broadband-access |url-status=live }}</ref>

Social media websites serve as both manifestations of and means by which to combat the digital divide. The former describes phenomena such as the divided users' demographics that make up sites such as Facebook, [[WordPress]] and Instagram. Each of these sites hosts communities that engage with otherwise marginalized populations.

=== Libraries ===
[[File:13394-Laptops Anytime Launch-6629 (10844113484).jpg|thumb|A laptop lending kiosk at [[Texas A&M University–Commerce]]'s Gee Library]]

In 2010,
an "online indigenous digital library as part of public library services" was created in [[Durban]], South Africa to narrow the digital divide by not only giving the people of the Durban area access to this digital resource, but also by incorporating the community members into the process of creating it.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Greyling | first1 = E. | last2 = Zulu | first2 = S. | s2cid = 110314974 | year = 2010 | title = Content development in an indigenous digital library: A case study in community participation | journal = IFLA Journal | volume = 36 | issue = 1| pages = 30–9 | doi = 10.1177/0340035209359570 }}</ref>

In 2002, the [[Gates Foundation]] started the Gates Library Initiative which provides training assistance and guidance in libraries.<ref name=":3">{{cite journal | last1 = Blau | first1 = Andrew | year = 2002 | title = Access isn't enough: Merely connecting people and computers won't close the digital divide | journal = American Libraries | volume = 33 | issue = 6| pages = 50–52 |oclc=96592560 }}</ref>

In [[Kenya]], lack of funding, language, and technology illiteracy contributed to an overall lack of computer skills and educational advancement. This slowly began to change when foreign investment began.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Civelek |first1=Mustafa Emre |last2=Çemberci |first2=Murat |last3=Uca |first3=Nagehan |title=The Role of Entrepreneurship and Foreign Direct Investments on the Relation between Digital Divide and Economic Growth: A Structural Equation Model |journal=Eurasian Academy of Sciences Social Sciences Journal |date=15 January 2016 |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=119–127 |doi=10.17740/eas.soc.2016.V7-07 |s2cid=53978201 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Kenya Economic Update: Accelerating Kenya's Digital Economy|url=https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/kenya/publication/kenya-economic-update-accelerating-kenyas-digital-economy|access-date=2021-09-29|website=World Bank|language=en|archive-date=September 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210929213916/https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/kenya/publication/kenya-economic-update-accelerating-kenyas-digital-economy|url-status=live}}</ref> In the early 2000s, the [[Carnegie Corporation of New York|Carnegie Foundation]] funded a revitalization project through the [[Kenya National Library Service]]. Those resources enabled public libraries to provide information and communication technologies to their patrons. In 2012, public libraries in the [[Busia County|Busia]] and [[Kiberia]] communities introduced technology resources to supplement curriculum for primary schools. By 2013, the program expanded into ten schools.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pingo |first1=Zablon B. |title=Transition from Camel Libraries to Digital Technologies in Kenya Public Libraries |journal=Public Library Quarterly |date=2 January 2015 |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=63–84 |doi=10.1080/01616846.2014.970467 |s2cid=205491803 }}</ref>

===Effective use===
Even though individuals might be capable of accessing the Internet, many are opposed by barriers to entry, such as a lack of means to infrastructure or the inability to comprehend or limit the information that the Internet provides. Some individuals can connect, but they do not have the knowledge to use what information ICTs and Internet technologies provide them. This leads to a focus on capabilities and skills, as well as awareness to move from mere access to effective usage of ICT.<ref name=":2">Karen Mossberger (2003). Virtual Inequality: Beyond the Digital Divide. Georgetown University Press</ref>

[[Community informatics]] (CI) focuses on issues of "use" rather than "access". CI is concerned with ensuring the opportunity not only for ICT access at the community level but also, according to [[Michael Gurstein]], that the means for the "effective use" of ICTs for community betterment and empowerment are available.<ref>{{cite web|last=Gurstein|first=Michael|title=Effective use: A community informatics strategy beyond the digital divide|url=http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/viewArticle/1107/1027|access-date=June 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309051347/http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/viewArticle/1107/1027|archive-date=March 9, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> Gurstein has also extended the discussion of the digital divide to include issues around access to and the use of "open data" and coined the term "[[data divide]]" to refer to this issue area.<ref>{{cite web|last=Gurstein|first=Michael|title=Open data: Empowering the empowered or effective data use for everyone?|url=http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/viewArticle/3316/2764|access-date=June 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121124005256/http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/viewArticle/3316/2764|archive-date=November 24, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>