Reuters reporter Thomas Atkins has an interesting piece which has the World Bank suggesting that the digital divide described by groups associated with the United Nations is not nearly so wide as once thought.
"People in the developing world are getting more access at an incredible rate -- far faster than they got access to new technologies in the past," Atkins wrote. "Half the world's population now enjoys access to a fixed-line telephone, the report said, and 77 percent to a mobile network -- surpassing a [U.N. group's] campaign goal that calls for 50 percent access by 2015."
Been all around the World Bank site but can't find the URL for the report that Atkins references. Anyone got a link?
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Who pays for this blog? I receive no fees, considerations, etc. etc. for the posts on this blog nor do I have any plans to accept any. My salary is paid by Canwest Global Communications Corp. I work for that company as the Ottawa-based National Affairs Correspondent for Canwest News Service. The blog publishing platform used here is called Blogware and it's developed by Tucows Inc. of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. My use of Blogware should not be taken as an endorsement of that company. Like all Blogware users, I do not pay any fees for the use of this service. I participate in program. Google pays me some money and, for that, I give Google some space on this site to display ads. Google sells those ads and Google, not me, decides what advertising content you are seeing. I do not filter these ads and take no responsibility for them. Readers should not assume I endorse any of the products or services advertised here. If you think other disclosures are appropriate in this space, I'd like to hear from you. All of my contact details are always at www.davidakin.com You can read more about this section |
Digital Divide: Not quite as advertised?
Comments
Re: Digital Divide: Not quite as advertised?
by
Anonymous
on Mon 28 Feb 2005 01:05 PM EST | Permanent Link
www.worldbank.org/ict
Re: Digital Divide: Not quite as advertised?
by
Anonymous
on Fri 04 Mar 2005 03:33 AM EST | Permanent Link
As someone who is working on the bridging the 'digital divide' in Africa (did I just say that?), I'd have to say, 'duh'. I recall when my buddies returned from Somalia in '92, they were telling me that almost every Somali with a car had a cell phone, back in the North, I had only seen one on television... The truth is that the digital divide does not exist between the developed and undeveloped world, it exists between the poor and the rich in the developed world. From where I am sitting now, I can see kids who will never have a chance to use the internet, they will be lucky if they can read a book. Ian Howard, from Mali
Re: Digital Divide: Not quite as advertised?
by
DavidAkin
on Fri 04 Mar 2005 11:47 AM EST | Profile | Permanent Link
Thanks, Ian -- Great input.
I once did a piece for The Globe and Mail that described the work of some Canadian researchers who speak about a digital divide along gender lines. Their research showed that, in Canada, the digital divide along socioeconomic lines had narrowed considerably, that is, people of all income levels and social backgrounds seemed to have some access to new Internet and communications technologies. But they found that among high-school age students there was a much different attitude and takeup rate between boys and girls on ICTs. Sorry -- the link's expired at The Globe site. I don't think the study is online either, but here's a link to the page describing the research |
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