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Digital divide
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==Aspects== There are various definitions of the digital divide, all with slightly different emphasis, which is evidenced by related concepts like [[digital inclusion]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/performance/digital-inclusion|title=Dashboard – Digital inclusion|publisher=GOV.UK|access-date=October 26, 2018|archive-date=August 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190802172929/https://www.gov.uk/performance/digital-inclusion|url-status=live}}</ref> digital participation,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://digitalparticipation.scot/ |title=Homepage |website=Digital Participation Charter |access-date=August 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220716015750/https://digitalparticipation.scot/ |archive-date=July 16, 2022}}</ref> digital skills,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thetechpartnership.com/basic-digital-skills/basic-digital-skills-framework/|title=Tech Partnership Legacy|work=Thetechpartnership.com|access-date=October 26, 2018|archive-date=August 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180821212625/https://www.thetechpartnership.com/basic-digital-skills/basic-digital-skills-framework/|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[media literacy]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ofcom.org.uk/research-and-data/media-literacy-research|title=Media literacy|publisher=Ofcom|access-date=October 26, 2018|archive-date=May 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210525015305/https://www.ofcom.org.uk/research-and-data/media-literacy-research|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[digital accessibility]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/digital-accessibility|title=What is digital accessibility? - Definition from WhatIs.com|last=Rouse|first=Margaret|work=Whatis.techtarget.com|access-date=October 26, 2018|archive-date=October 26, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181026143149/https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/digital-accessibility|url-status=live}}</ref> [[File:DigitalDivide Hilbert2011.jpg|thumb]] ===Infrastructure=== The infrastructure by which individuals, households, businesses, and communities connect to the Internet address the physical mediums that people use to connect to the Internet such as desktop computers, laptops, basic mobile phones or [[smartphones]], iPods or other MP3 players, gaming consoles such as [[Xbox]] or [[PlayStation]], electronic book readers, and tablets such as iPads.<ref>Zickuher, Kathryn. 2011. [http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Generations-and-gadgets/Report/Desktop-and-Laptop-Computers.aspx Generations and their gadgets] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111116232829/http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Generations-and-gadgets/Report/Desktop-and-Laptop-Computers.aspx |date=November 16, 2011 }}. Pew Internet & American Life Project.</ref> [[File:BandwidthInequality1986-2014.jpg|thumb|300px |The digital divide measured in terms of bandwidth is not closing, but fluctuating up and down. Gini coefficients for telecommunication capacity (in kbit/s) among individuals worldwide<ref name="HilbertBitsDivide"/>]] Traditionally, the nature of the divide has been measured in terms of the existing numbers of subscriptions and digital devices. Given the increasing number of such devices, some have concluded that the digital divide among individuals has increasingly been closing as the result of a natural and almost automatic process.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last1=Compaine |first1=Benjamin M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MbareJicwKAC&q=closing |title=The Digital Divide: Facing a Crisis Or Creating a Myth? |date=2001 |publisher=MIT Press |isbn=978-0-262-53193-1 |page=ix}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Dutton | first1 = W.H. | last2 = Gillett | first2 = S.E. | last3 = McKnight | first3 = L.W. | last4 = Peltu | first4 = M. | year = 2004 | title = Bridging Broadband Internet Divides | journal = Journal of Information Technology | volume = 19 | issue = 1| pages = 28–38 | doi=10.1057/palgrave.jit.2000007| s2cid = 11827716 }}</ref> Others point to persistent lower levels of connectivity among women, racial and ethnic minorities, people with lower incomes, rural residents, and less educated people as evidence that addressing inequalities in access to and use of the medium will require much more than the passing of time.<ref name=":1">{{cite book |last1=Hargittai |first1=E. |chapter=The Digital Divide and What to Do About It |pages=822–841 |editor1-last=Jones |editor1-first=Derek C. |title=New Economy Handbook |date=15 September 2003 |publisher=Emerald Group Publishing Limited |isbn=978-0-12-389172-3 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Zickuhr |first1=Kathryn |title=Who's Not Online and Why |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2013/09/25/whos-not-online-and-why/ |work=Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech |date=25 September 2013 |access-date=November 4, 2022 |archive-date=November 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221104145742/https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2013/09/25/whos-not-online-and-why/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Recent studies have measured the digital divide not in terms of technological devices, but in terms of the existing bandwidth per individual (in kbit/s per capita).<ref name="HilbertInfoInequality">{{cite journal |doi=10.1002/asi.23020 |title=Technological information inequality as an incessantly moving target: The redistribution of information and communication capacities between 1986 and 2010 |year=2014 |last1=Hilbert |first1=Martin |journal=Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology |volume=65 |issue=4 |pages=821–835 |s2cid=15820273 |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3wp93436 |access-date=November 4, 2022 |archive-date=November 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221104145743/https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3wp93436 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="HilbertBitsDivide">{{cite journal |last1=Hilbert |first1=Martin |title=The bad news is that the digital access divide is here to stay: Domestically installed bandwidths among 172 countries for 1986–2014 |journal=Telecommunications Policy |date=June 2016 |volume=40 |issue=6 |pages=567–581 |doi=10.1016/j.telpol.2016.01.006 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1064176 |access-date=November 4, 2022 |archive-date=January 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117060953/https://zenodo.org/record/1064176 |url-status=live }}</ref> As shown in the Figure on the side, the digital divide in kbit/s is not monotonically decreasing but re-opens up with each new innovation. For example, "the massive diffusion of narrow-band Internet and mobile phones during the late 1990s" increased digital inequality, as well as "the initial introduction of broadband DSL and cable modems during 2003–2004 increased levels of inequality".<ref name="HilbertInfoInequality"/> During the mid-2000s, communication capacity was more unequally distributed than during the late 1980s, when only fixed-line phones existed. The most recent increase in digital equality stems from the massive diffusion of the latest digital innovations (i.e. fixed and mobile broadband infrastructures, e.g. [[5G]] and fiber optics [[FTTH]]).<ref>{{cite news |last1=Tatalović |first1=Mićo |title=How mobile phones increased the digital divide |url=https://www.scidev.net/global/scidev-net-at-large/how-mobile-phones-increased-the-digital-divide/ |work=SciDev.Net |date=26 February 2014 |access-date=November 4, 2022 |archive-date=August 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220824161025/https://www.scidev.net/global/scidev-net-at-large/how-mobile-phones-increased-the-digital-divide/ |url-status=live }}{{failed verification|date=October 2022|reason=no mention of either technology in the source}}</ref> Measurement methodologies of the digital divide, and more specifically an Integrated Iterative Approach General Framework (Integrated Contextual Iterative Approach – ICI) and the digital divide modeling theory under measurement model DDG (Digital Divide Gap) are used to analyze the gap existing between developed and developing countries, and the gap among the 27 members-states of the European Union.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Abdalhakim |first1=Hawaf |year=2009 |title=An innovated objective digital divide measure |journal=Journal of Communication and Computer |volume=6 |issue=12 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Πασχαλίδου |first1=Γεωργία |title=Ψηφιακό χάσμα και ανισότητες στη χρήση νέων τεχνολογιών |trans-title=Digital divide and inequalities in the use of new technologies |language=el |date=2011 |url=https://dspace.lib.uom.gr/handle/2159/14899 |access-date=January 21, 2015 |archive-date=March 18, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318012618/https://dspace.lib.uom.gr/handle/2159/14899 |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Good Things Foundation]], a UK non-profit organisation, collates data on the extent and impact of the digital divide in the UK<ref>{{Cite web |title=Research & Evidence {{!}} Good Things Foundation |url=https://www.goodthingsfoundation.org/policy-and-research/research-and-evidence |access-date=2024-10-31 |website=www.goodthingsfoundation.org |language=en}}</ref> and lobbies the government to fix digital exclusion<ref>{{Cite web |title=Policy Asks to Fix the Digital Divide {{!}} Good Things Foundation |url=https://www.goodthingsfoundation.org/policy-and-research/manifesto |access-date=2024-10-31 |website=www.goodthingsfoundation.org |language=en}}</ref> ===Skills and digital literacy=== Research from 2001 showed that the digital divide is more than just an access issue and cannot be alleviated merely by providing the necessary equipment. There are at least three factors at play: information accessibility, information utilization, and information receptiveness. More than just accessibility, the digital divide consists of society's lack of knowledge on how to make use of the information and communication tools once they exist within a community.<ref>Mun-cho, K. & Jong-Kil, K. (2001). Digital divide: conceptual discussions and prospect, In W. Kim, T. Wang Ling, Y.j. Lee & S.S. Park (Eds.), The human society and the Internet: Internet-related socio-economic Issues, First International Conference, Seoul, Korea: Proceedings, Springer, New York, NY.</ref> Information professionals have the ability to help bridge the gap by providing reference and information services to help individuals learn and utilize the technologies to which they do have access, regardless of the economic status of the individual seeking help.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Aqili | first1 = S. | last2 = Moghaddam | first2 = A. | year = 2008 | title = Bridging the digital divide: The role of librarians and information professionals in the third millennium | journal = Electronic Library | volume = 26 | issue = 2| pages = 226–237 | doi = 10.1108/02640470810864118 }}</ref> ===Location=== One can connect to the internet in a variety of locations, such as homes, offices, schools, libraries, public spaces, and Internet cafes. Levels of connectivity often vary between rural, suburban, and urban areas.<ref>Livingston, Gretchen. 2010. Latinos and Digital Technology, 2010. Pew Hispanic Center</ref><ref name="pmid25013823">{{cite journal |last1=Ramalingam |first1=Archana |last2=Kar |first2=Sitanshu Sekhar |title=Is there a digital divide among school students? an exploratory study from Puducherry |journal=Journal of Education and Health Promotion |date=3 May 2014 |volume=3 |pages=30 |doi=10.4103/2277-9531.131894 |doi-access=free|pmid=25013823 |pmc=4089106}}</ref> In 2017, the [[Wireless Broadband Alliance]] published the [[white paper]] ''The Urban Unconnected'', which highlighted that in the eight countries with the world's highest [[GNP]] about 1.75 billion people had no internet connection, and one third of them lived in the major urban centers. [[Delhi]] (5.3 millions, 9% of the total population), '''[[São Paulo]]''' (4.3 millions, 36%), [[New York City|New York]] (1.6 mln, 19%), and [[Moscow]] (2.1 mln, 17%) registered the highest percentages of citizens who had no internet access of any type.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wballiance.com/digital-inclusion-key-to-prosperous-smart-cities/|title=Digital Inclusion – Key to Prosperous & Smart Cities|year=2017|publisher=Wireless Broadband Alliance|access-date=August 8, 2021|archive-date=August 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210808220535/https://wballiance.com/digital-inclusion-key-to-prosperous-smart-cities/|url-status=live}}</ref> As of 2021, only about half of the world's population had access to the internet, leaving 3.7 billion people without internet. A majority of those are in developing countries, and a large portion of them are women.<ref>{{Cite web|title=With Almost Half of World's Population Still Offline, Digital Divide Risks Becoming "New Face of Inequality", Deputy Secretary-General Warns General Assembly. Meetings Coverage and Press Releases|url=https://www.un.org/press/en/2021/dsgsm1579.doc.htm|access-date=2021-10-26|website=www.un.org|archive-date=October 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027024438/https://www.un.org/press/en/2021/dsgsm1579.doc.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Also, the governments of different countries have different policies about privacy, data governance, speech freedoms and many other factors. Government restrictions make it challenging for technology companies to provide services in certain countries. This disproportionately impacts the different regions of the world; Europe has the highest percentage of the population online while Africa has the lowest. From 2010 to 2014 Europe went from 67% to 75% and in the same time span Africa went from 10% to 19%.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Global Digital Divide {{!}} Cultural Anthropology|url=https://courses.lumenlearning.com/culturalanthropology/chapter/the-global-digital-divide/|access-date=2021-10-26|website=courses.lumenlearning.com|language=en-US|archive-date=October 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026223032/https://courses.lumenlearning.com/culturalanthropology/chapter/the-global-digital-divide/|url-status=live}}</ref> Network speeds play a large role in the quality of an internet connection. Large cities and towns may have better access to high speed internet than rural areas, which may have limited or no service.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The digital divide – Ethics and law – GCSE Computer Science Revision|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zkhykqt/revision/5|access-date=2021-12-07|website=BBC Bitesize|language=en-GB |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220215145951/https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zkhykqt/revision/5 |archive-date=February 15, 2022}}</ref> Households can be locked into a specific service provider, since it may be the only carrier that even offers service to the area. This applies to regions that have developed networks, like the United States, but also applies to developing countries, so that very large areas have virtually no coverage.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Factors affecting the speed and quality of internet connection|url=https://www.traficom.fi/en/communications/broadband-and-telephone/factors-affecting-speed-and-quality-internet-connection|access-date=2021-12-07|website=Traficom|language=en|archive-date=December 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211206110954/https://www.traficom.fi/en/communications/broadband-and-telephone/factors-affecting-speed-and-quality-internet-connection|url-status=live}}</ref> In those areas there are very limited actions that a consumer could take, since the issue is mainly infrastructure. Technologies that provide an internet connection through satellite are becoming more common, like Starlink, but they are still not available in many regions.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Crist|first=Ry|title=What is Starlink? Elon Musk's satellite internet venture explained|url=https://www.cnet.com/home/internet/starlink-satellite-internet-explained/|access-date=2021-12-07|website=CNET|language=en|archive-date=December 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211207180528/https://www.cnet.com/home/internet/starlink-satellite-internet-explained/|url-status=live}}</ref> Based on location, a connection may be so slow as to be virtually unusable, solely because a network provider has limited infrastructure in the area. For example, to download 5 GB of data in Taiwan it might take about 8 minutes, while the same download might take 30 hours in Yemen.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The global digital divide (article)|url=https://www.khanacademy.org/computing/computers-and-internet/xcae6f4a7ff015e7d:the-internet/xcae6f4a7ff015e7d:the-digital-divide/a/the-global-digital-divide|access-date=2021-10-26|website=Khan Academy|language=en|archive-date=October 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026224533/https://www.khanacademy.org/computing/computers-and-internet/xcae6f4a7ff015e7d:the-internet/xcae6f4a7ff015e7d:the-digital-divide/a/the-global-digital-divide|url-status=live}}</ref> From 2020 to 2022, average download speeds in the EU climbed from 70 Mbps to more than 120 Mbps, owing mostly to the demand for digital services during the pandemic.<ref name=":208">{{Cite book |last=Bank |first=European Investment |url=https://www.eib.org/en/publications/20240079-eib-group-activity-in-eu-cohesion-regions-2023 |title=EIB Group activities in EU cohesion regions 2023 |date=2024-07-15 |publisher=European Investment Bank |isbn=978-92-861-5761-5 |language=EN}}</ref> There is still a large rural-urban disparity in internet speeds, with metropolitan areas in [[France]] and [[Denmark]] reaching rates of more than 150 Mbps, while many rural areas in [[Greece]], [[Croatia]], and [[Cyprus]] have speeds of less than 60 Mbps.<ref name=":208" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Urban-rural Europe - digital society |url=https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Urban-rural_Europe_-_digital_society |access-date=2024-07-31 |website=ec.europa.eu |language=en}}</ref> The EU aspires for complete gigabit coverage by 2030, however as of 2022, only over 60% of Europe has high-speed internet infrastructure, signalling the need for more enhancements.<ref name=":208" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Broadband Connectivity in the Digital Economy and Society Index {{!}} Shaping Europe's digital future |url=https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/desi-connectivity |access-date=2024-07-31 |website=digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu |language=en}}</ref> ===Applications=== [[Common Sense Media]], a nonprofit group based in San Francisco, surveyed almost 1,400 parents and reported in 2011 that 47 percent of families with incomes more than $75,000 had downloaded apps for their children, while only 14 percent of families earning less than $30,000 had done so.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://gigaom.com/2011/10/25/app-gap-emerges-highlighting-savvy-mobile-children/|title= 'App gap' emerges highlighting savvy mobile children|author= Ryan Kim|journal= GigaOM|date= October 25, 2011|access-date= October 23, 2012|archive-date= December 3, 2012|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121203165408/http://gigaom.com/2011/10/25/app-gap-emerges-highlighting-savvy-mobile-children/|url-status= live}}</ref>
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