The historical context of international debates on a right to access to information technology and digital divide guarantees

2019 ◽  
pp. 23-61
Author(s):  
Anne Peacock
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Access To Information

Rethinking the Digital Divide

2001 ◽  
Vol 71 (4) ◽  
pp. 709-734 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Light
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
Social Problem ◽  
Current Debate ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Technical Issue ◽  
Robust Solutions ◽  
Access To Technology ◽  
Unequal Access ◽  
The Relationship

The term digital divide entered the American vocabulary in the mid-1990s to refer to unequal access to information technology. However, public debate has addressed the digital divide as a technical issue rather than as a reflection of broader social problems. In this article, Jennifer Light critically analyzes how access to technology is constructed as a social problem and examines the particular assumptions about technology and inequality that frame the debate. Drawing on historical examples, Light examines why hopes that technology would improve society have often not been fulfilled. The author examines the striking asymmetries between the current and earlier debates about the relationship between technology and society. She invites us to consider the different ways in which the problem of access to technology has been constructed, and suggests that these differences may generate ways to enrich the current debate and begin a conversation about more robust solutions. (pp. 710–734)

Solving the Paradoxes of the Information Technology Revolution

2013 ◽  
pp. 1440-1455
Author(s):  
Francesco D. Sandulli
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Skilled Workers ◽  
Skilled Labour ◽  
Technology Revolution ◽  
Homogeneous Set

The research on the digital divide usually analyzes the differences between those who have access to information technology and those who have not. This approach typically considers information technology a homogeneous set of technologies. In this chapter, we will break this assumption establishing different subsets of information technologies according to their impact on the task productivity and the firm’s demand for high skilled labour. This new focus reveals that depending on the information technology used by the firm to perform a given task, the demand for high skilled and low skilled workers may vary and consequently their wages and income, producing in some cases a new and till now unobserved digital divide.

scholarly journals Epistemic Value Theory and the Digital Divide

2011 ◽  
pp. 29-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Don Fallis
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
Knowledge Work ◽  
Policy Decision ◽  
Value Theory ◽  
Social Disadvantage ◽  
Epistemic Value ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Principal Value ◽  
Epistemic Value Theory

The digital divide refers to inequalities in access to information technology. Those people who do not have access to information technology are at a significant economic and social disadvantage. As with any other policy decision, in order to evaluate policies for dealing with the digital divide, we need to know exactly what our goal should be. Since the principal value of access to information technology is that it leads to knowledge, work in epistemology can help us to clarify our goal in the context of the digital divide. In this paper, I argue that epistemic value theory can help us to determine which distribution of knowledge to aim for. Epistemic value theory cannot specify a particular distribution to aim for, but it can significantly narrow down the range of possibilities. Additionally, I indicate how the exercise of applying epistemic value theory to the case of the digital divide furthers work in epistemology.

scholarly journals Epistemic Value Theory and the Digital Divide

2008 ◽  
pp. 3105-3118
Author(s):  
Don Fallis
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
Knowledge Work ◽  
Policy Decision ◽  
Value Theory ◽  
Social Disadvantage ◽  
Epistemic Value ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Principal Value ◽  
Epistemic Value Theory

The digital divide refers to inequalities in access to information technology. Those people who do not have access to information technology are at a significant economic and social disadvantage. As with any other policy decision, in order to evaluate policies for dealing with the digital divide, we need to know exactly what our goal should be. Since the principal value of access to information technology is that it leads to knowledge, work in epistemology can help us to clarify our goal in the context of the digital divide. In this paper, I argue that epistemic value theory can help us to determine which distribution of knowledge to aim for. Epistemic value theory cannot specify a particular distribution to aim for, but it can significantly narrow down the range of possibilities. Additionally, I indicate how the exercise of applying epistemic value theory to the case of the digital divide furthers work in epistemology.

Solving the Paradoxes of the Information Technology Revolution

2010 ◽  
pp. 423-438
Author(s):  
Francesco D. Sandulli
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Skilled Workers ◽  
Skilled Labour ◽  
Technology Revolution ◽  
Homogeneous Set

The research on the digital divide usually analyzes the differences between those who have access to information technology and those who have not. This approach typically considers information technology a homogeneous set of technologies. In this chapter, we will break this assumption establishing different subsets of information technologies according to their impact on the task productivity and the firm’s demand for high skilled labour. This new focus reveals that depending on the information technology used by the firm to perform a given task, the demand for high skilled and low skilled workers may vary and consequently their wages and income, producing in some cases a new and till now unobserved digital divide

Technologies of Democracy: Participation and Access in the University Environment

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Hall ◽  
Naida Caidi
Keyword(s):  
Digital Divide ◽  
Internet Use ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Canadian Government ◽  
University Environment ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
Statistics Canada ◽  
The University ◽  
Physical Access

Although Canada globally ranks among the top ten countries for per capita Internet use (ITU, 2001; Statistics Canada, 2002), roughly one half of the population is till not online. The Canadian government has supported numerous initiatives aimed at bridging the 'digital divide' between technological haves and have-nots, recognizing, at the same time, that simple physical access to information. . .

Bridging the digital divide through ICT

2013 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 358-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adboulaye Kaba ◽  
Raed Said
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Information Technology ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
Significant Relationship ◽  
Gulf Cooperation Council ◽  
Arab Countries ◽  
Government Support ◽  
Global Information ◽  
Gcc Countries ◽  
Ict Infrastructure

Bridging the gap of the digital divide can play an important role in education, employment and economic growth of any country. The present study attempts to examine and analyze the digital divide status of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries compared with countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other Arab countries. It uses 19 indicators of four factors adapted from The Global Information Technology Report 2009–2010 to measure the digital divide. Findings of the study indicated that GCC countries have a better ICT infrastructure than the ASEAN and other Arab countries. Similarly, the results of the study revealed that GCC nations have more ICT users than the ASEAN and other Arab countries. However, the study found no significant differences among these groups of countries in regard to government support and usage of ICT. Findings of the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) show that, across the three groups of countries, the influence of ICT infrastructure is consistently significant in narrowing the digital divide. The regression results also prove a significant relationship between government support for ICT and government usage of ICT.

scholarly journals Bridging the digital divide : effort towards establishing the real impact of information technology to the rural community

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
Roshidi Hassan ◽  
Megat Zuhairy Megat Tajuddin
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Literacy Programs ◽  
Technology Literacy ◽  
Power Utilities ◽  
Internet Connections ◽  
Basic Infrastructure ◽  
Impact Of Technology

The Bridging Digital Divide (BDD) Program initiated by the Malaysian government in 1999 has successfully introduced the Information Technology (IT) to the rural communities particularly in Malaysia. The computers and internet connections are available almost at every part ofMalaysia including those in the remote areas. However; to have a real impact of technology on people slives, the effort has to go beyond the infrastructures and technology literacy programs and awareness. Having information available suit to the needs of the local community will bring greater impact ofthe technology to them. Nevertheless, the new approaches need to be introduced to make the effort less costly. Some of the Digital Divide programs require proper coordination with other projects. Coordination with the responsible agencies in providing power utilities and road infrastructures is essential to make such expensive digital divide program more cost effective·and give greater impact to the community. Thus, this paper will provide numerous suggestions on the improvement in providing greater benefits; both the users and the project implementers. Besides, this paper will also discuss on the need of local content in local language with self-sustained nature. lt further highlights the importanceof having basic infrastructure such as electricity and road accessibility that may have influence over the success of BDD program.

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