Cultural Aspects and Digital Divide in Europe

MedienJournal ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 14-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ursula Maier-Rabler
Keyword(s):  
Digital Divide ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Social Economic ◽  
Innovation Process ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Individual Member ◽  
Policy Practice ◽  
Cultural Aspects ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Policy Strategies

This paper aims to make a contribution toward an improvement of European e-policy practice. lt is inspired by the conviction that successfuJ e-policy strategies can lead to ba­lanced chances for all members in certain societies to aquire the absolutely indispensable capabilities for decision-making in the context of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Following the path of the development of e-policy papers it has to be stated that many goals have not yet been achieved. The techno-deterministic concepts 'access' and 'usage' seem not to reach far enough to get people really involved andin­formed. Many more aspects have tobe considered in order to create a clirnate for inno­vation where different choices made by different individuals according to their different social, economic or cuJtural backgrounds do not lead automatically to the well known either or not, connected or not-connected, haves or have-nots, but to a variety of pat­terns of involvement. In this paper, we argue for different e-policy strategies according to cultural aspects in certain societies. And hereby we will focus on the cultural aspects of information itself, on the notion of information in different information cultures. lt also seems important to mention at this stage that we believe that getting all members of society involved in the ICT-innovation process in order to provide the basis for in­formed decisions by each individual member is the most important task of e-policy.

scholarly journals A Web-Based Tourist Decision Support System for Agra City

2011 ◽  
pp. 51-54
Author(s):  
Sunil Pratap Singh ◽  
Jitendra Sharma ◽  
Preetvanti Singh
Keyword(s):  
Decision Support ◽  
Decision Support System ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Support System ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Cultural Aspects ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Agra City

In the last decade the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have boomed in many sectors, such as business, education, commerce and have profound implications for the tourism industry. They are being used extensively in a great variety of functions and count innumerable applications. Among these, Decision Support System (DSS) plays a fundamental role for their capacity to give tourist managing their tours and to base all the decisions concerning to queries on the climate, road conditions, cultural aspects, lodging, health facilities, banking, etc. of the location to be visited on sound and rational bases. In the present paper, a Web-Based Tourist Decision Support System (WTDSS) for Agra City has been developed that allows the traveling community to find their route in city and ask for information about sights, accommodations and other places of interest which are near by to him to improve the convenience, safety and efficiency of travel.

scholarly journals MEASURING DIGITAL DIVIDE IN KING ABDULAZIZ UNIVERSITY

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-19
Author(s):  
Iqbal S. Alsaleh ◽  
Shaymaa M. Rashad
Keyword(s):  
Digital Divide ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Information And Communications Technology ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Order Effects ◽  
Diffusion Of Technology ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
King Abdulaziz University ◽  
The University

Due to the undesirable effects of the gap between citizens to access and use information and communication technologies (ICT), most researchers have been paying much attention to the threat of a digital divide. Unfortunately an amazingly large number of people do not have the abilities to use the ICTs in a proper way and, therefore, cannot draw advantages from its usage. As a result, digital divide is commonly regarded as a potential barrier for participation in the information society. This study measure the digital divide in Saudi Arabia by analyzing the results of a small-scale study conducted at the University KAU, regarding students’ and university members’ perceptions toward the usage of ICT. This analysis measure the digital divide concerning some factors like gender, educational level using a questionnaire. The analysis shows that KAU has no digital divide. Key words: digital divide, information and communications technology, ICT, diffusion of technology, second order effects.

Digital Divide and Rural Communities

2013 ◽  
pp. 698-720
Author(s):  
John Garofalakis ◽  
Andreas Koskeris
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
World Wide ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Digital Culture ◽  
Wide Spread ◽  
Balanced Development ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Source Of Information

During the last years, due to the wide spread of World Wide Web (WWW), the Internet has become one of the most valuable and effective communications media and the most inclusive source of information. However, in many cases the difficulties of establishing universal effective access could serve to reinforce current patterns of social exclusion and produce barriers to balanced development instead of supporting it. World widely there is a rising concern over the so-called “digital divide”–a term that refers to the gap existing in the opportunities to access advanced information and communication technologies between geographic areas or by individuals at different socioeconomic levels. The experience shows that specialized initiatives are needed for disadvantaged areas in order to anticipate expansion of current digital divide. This chapter is focusing on the specific instance of digital divide occurring in rural territories, and examines the ways to foster digital culture among citizens, utilizing a specific initiative (the so called “Telecentres”).

Assessing Robustness of Asian Countries Ranking

2020 ◽  
pp. 139-153
Author(s):  
Nilanjana Chakrabarty ◽  
Dibyojyoti Bhattacharjee
Keyword(s):  
Digital Divide ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Unobserved Component ◽  
Linear Aggregation ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Unobserved Component Model ◽  
Use Of Internet

The term ‘digital divide' refers to the gap between individuals, households, businesses and geographic areas with regard to both their opportunities to access Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and to their use of Internet. Composite indicators are regularly used for measuring the divide and in benchmarking the country's performance. But often it creates controversies regarding the subjectivity that is connected with their construction methodology more specifically the weighting and aggregation issues. The paper attempts to assess the robustness of the ranks generated by the composite digital divide index using different weighting and aggregation schemes in case of Asian countries. Here four weighting techniques Iyengar-Sudarshan Method, Benefit of Doubt Method, Principal Component Analysis and Unobserved Component Model and three techniques of aggregation viz. Linear Aggregation, Geometric Aggregation and Weighted Displaced Ideal Method are used for mutual comparison.

Digital Divide

2008 ◽  
pp. 74-90
Author(s):  
Liudmila Burtseva ◽  
Svetlana Cojocaru ◽  
Constantin Gaindric ◽  
Galina Magariu ◽  
Tatiana Verlan
Keyword(s):  
Digital Divide ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Technical Problem ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Short History ◽  
World Community ◽  
The World ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Way

In this chapter the authors introduce the digital-divide concept to the reader, bring its different definitions, and describe the short history of the problem. The basic figures and facts, which characterize the information and communication technologies’ usage in different countries and regions, are given as well. Also, basic indicators that allow the monitoring of the country’s advancement on the way to bridging the digital divide are stated. The main purpose for the authors was to show that the digital divide is not only (and not as much) a technical problem, but rather a social and political one. Hence, the approaches to this problem decision, both in the world community as a whole and in separate countries, are described.

The Need for Community Informatics in Malaysia

2008 ◽  
pp. 1932-1937
Author(s):  
Jayapragas Gnaniah ◽  
Peter Songan ◽  
Alvin W. Yeo ◽  
Hushairi Zen ◽  
Khairuddin Ab. Hamid
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Community Informatics ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Sustainable Human Development ◽  
The World ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Digital Gap

The Malaysian government, through many initiatives, has seriously looked into reducing and if possible eliminating, the digital divide that exists between the developed urban and the technologically impoverished rural communities. The e-Bario Project, a successful research showcase of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, is one of the leading examples in Malaysia of such an attempt to bridge the digital gap and to achieve sustainable human development through the introduction of information and communication technologies (ICT). According to Harris, Bala, Songan, Khoo and Trang (2001), the World Bank had introduced a systematic approach to the application of ICT to meet the needs and bridge the digital divide of the rural community.

Digital Divide Challenge

2008 ◽  
pp. 1431-1439
Author(s):  
Anastasia Papazafeiropoulou ◽  
Anastasia Pouloudi
Keyword(s):  
Digital Divide ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Technology Diffusion ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Public ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Normative Perspective

Following an initial euphoria about the power of the information superhighway to provide better access to information and wealth for all, what we have experienced in reality instead is that information and communication technologies have created further inequalities at individual, business, national and international level. To ease the effects of this “digital divide,” policy makers have taken up the role of change agencies, influencing the public in using innovative information technologies. This chapter focuses on the role of these change agencies for technology diffusion and the elimination of the digital divide. It is argued that examining the interest of change agencies and the other stakeholders involved in the diffusion process from a normative perspective can help in the preparation of effective information technology diffusion policies.

Digital inclusion

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald M. Baecker
Keyword(s):  
Digital Divide ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Digital Technology ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Digital Inclusion ◽  
Digital Devices ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
The Rich

J. C. R. Licklider, Vannevar Bush, Doug Engelbart, Ted Nelson, and Alan Kay optimistically and exuberantly imagined how computers could better the lives of people. Much of this has come to pass. The Internet supports learning by ‘students’ at all levels. Information on laws, procedures, diseases, and medical care may be found on the web. The Internet now provides the easiest, or in some cases the only, way to pay bills or order items such as books, groceries, and even clothing. It is a means of communication with family, friends, individuals one would like to meet, individuals with whom one could share insights, and potential employers. Music, films, and other means of entertainment stream to our digital devices. This implies that those for whom digital technology is not available are at a disadvantage. The gap between the technology-haves and the technology-have-nots became known in the 1990s as a digital divide. The concept is nuanced; we can speak of availability or scarcity of hardware, such as personal computers (PCs) and mobile phones; of infrastructure such as cellular networks; of communications bandwidth that enables a smooth media viewing experience; of expertise in using the technology; of commitment to its use; and of engagement in the process. Some only consume information; others contribute their ideas via methods such as blogging and tweeting. Yet a better way to describe digital technology widely accessible is the goal of social inclusion, to allow all individuals, regardless of socioeconomic status, location, race, gender, or ability or disability, to take advantage of the benefits of modern computing and telecommunications. To have terminology that is even more evocative, we shall use the more modern and descriptive term of digital inclusion. This has been defined by the International Telecommunications Union as ‘empowering people through information and communication technologies (ICTs)’. The term ‘people’ is meant here to imply all people throughout the world. This chapter will first examine the digital divide between the haves and the have-nots (often the rich and the poor) within several nations. Examples of the benefits of digital inclusion will be cited.

An Interactive Ecosystem of Digital Literacy Services

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 13-31
Author(s):  
José Eder Guzmán-Mendoza ◽  
Jaime Muñoz-Arteaga ◽  
Ángel Eduardo Muñoz-Zavala ◽  
René Santaolaya-Salgado
Keyword(s):  
Digital Divide ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Digital Literacy ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Knowledge Society ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Economic Changes ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Educational Paradigm

Knowledge Society (KS) is influenced by Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), economic changes, political, cultural and social concepts allowing access to other levels of welfare and progress. However, the differences in terms of access and ICT skills between different groups in society have created a problem of digital divide. To overcome this problem, models and strategies are required to achieve a greater impact on the population and that population can develop skills that enhance inclusion in the society knowledge. This work proposes an Interactive Ecosystem of digital literacy that aims to set a new educational paradigm approach to encourage different learning communities to uses new technologies of information and communication that allows them to be more competitive in today's world and thus shorten the digital divide. Finally, a case study is shown as an implementation of the ecosystem throughout an architectural model in the state of Aguascalientes, México.

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