Determinants of Digital Divide in Africa and Policy Implications

Aikins, Stephen K.

doi:10.4018/ijpada.2019010104

Cited by 13 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Following the literature (Aikins, 2019;Forman, 2005;Hilbert, 2011;Oliveira & Martins, 2011), we accounted for the influence of firm-specific factors by including: size of firm, level of education of the workforce and type of ownership of the firm. We also included the following as proxies for the business environment and effectiveness of state institutions: quality assurance certification, geographical location of the firm, the firm holds the perception that labour regulations are an obstacle, access to electricity and the sector in which the firm operates.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Earlier studies identified limited access to physical infrastructure, illiteracy, social and cultural limitations, a lack of finance (affordability), lack of decision-making ability and segregation in employment as some of the barriers to women's adoption of digital technologies in Africa (Aikins, 2019;Ikolo, 2013). The importance of digital technologies for manufacturing, skills development, research and development, integration and intra-African trade, investment and tourism requires that policymakers pay particular attention to these sociocultural, economic and institutional factors that contribute to the gender-based digital divide at firm level on the African continent (African Union Commission, 2015).…”

Section: Estimates Of Digital Technology Adoption and Utilisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this article, we set out to fill this gap in the literature by exploring the extent to which the gender composition of the ownership and management of firms is related to firms' adoption of digital technologies in their operations in Africa. Drawing on the literature on the gender digital divide (Aikins, 2019;Antonio & Tuffley, 2014;Ikolo, 2013) and firms' ownership and management structures (Marques, 2015;Saeed, Belghitar, & Yousaf, 2016;Terjesen, Couto, & Francisco, 2016), this study had two specific objectives: (1) to assess the effect of the gender composition of firm ownership on firms' adoption (ownership) and utilisation of digital technologies and (2) to examine the effect of the gender composition of firms' ownership and management on the intensity of firms' utilisation of digital technologies in Africa.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Gender composition of ownership and management of firms and the gender digital divide in Africa

Orkoh

Viviers

2021

South African Journal of Business Management

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Purpose: This study analysed the determinants of firms’ adoption and utilisation of digital technologies in Africa, with specific attention to the gender structure of firms’ ownership and management, in the interest of closing the gender digital divide.Design/methodology/approach: Logistic and Poisson regression techniques were used to analyse firm-level data from the World Bank’s Enterprise Survey in 48 African countries for the period 2006–2019.Findings/results: (1) Representation: The descriptive analysis shows very low representation of women in the ownership and management of firms in Africa. Whilst just over a quarter of the firms were partly women-owned, less than 10% are majority- or all-women-owned and only 12% have women as a top manager. The results are a comparison of firms according to gender composition. (2) Adoption: The regression estimates suggest that firms that are partly women-owned are more likely to adopt digital technologies, but all-women-owned and firms with women as top managers are less likely to adopt digital technologies for their business activities. These results on the adoption of digital technologies remained consistent with the results on utilisation of digital technologies for business activities. (3) Utilisation: Partly women-owned or women-led firms are less likely to use digital technologies for business activities such as using the Internet for research and placing orders. However, these firms are more likely to use e-mail for business communication. Partly women-owned firms are more likely to use digital technologies more intensively, whilst the opposite was observed for majority- or fully women-owned and women-led firms.Practical implications: This study highlights the need for initiatives focussed on developing women in Africa’s knowledge and use of digital technologies in business. Based on the results, women are urged to enhance their skills in this domain. This may present greater opportunities in terms of employment of women to increase women’s representation.Originality/value: The article contributes to knowledge on the nexus between gender digital divide and gender inequality in ownership and management of firms. The results may also inform initiatives to narrow the digital divide in Africa.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Estimates Of Digital Technology Adoption and Utilisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Gender composition of ownership and management of firms and the gender digital divide in Africa

Orkoh

Viviers

2021

South African Journal of Business Management

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“…The benefits of ICT can be harnessed almost in every sphere of socio-economic development such as education, health, employment, environment etc. In fact, the ICT is considered as the means of implementation of the various sustainable development goals (SDGs) (Aikins, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of digital skill in mitigating digital divide: evidences from Asia-Pacific region

Maji

Laha

2021

RAMJ

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PurposeThis paper aims to make a modest attempt to classify the Asia-Pacific countries in terms of the access to information and communication technology (ICT) to unearth the prevalence of digital divide (if any) in the Asia-Pacific region. In addition to that, this paper also examines the role played by the digital skill in bridging the digital divide in the context of Asia–Pacific countries.Design/methodology/approachSecondary data on 43 Asia-Pacific countries for the period from 2012 to 2017 was collected from International Telecommunication Union (ITU) database and World Development Indicators, World Bank. K-means clustering technique was applied to explore the natural grouping of the Asia-Pacific countries based on ICT access. The role of digital/ICT skill in narrowing the access-based digital divide was investigated using panel data regression technique.FindingsClustering of countries suggested a significant difference amongst the Asia-Pacific countries in terms of ICT access, signifying the prevalence of access based digital divide. Digital skill played pivotal role in promoting ICT access and thereby reducing the digital divide during the period of the study. Per capita income level, level of education, openness of the economy and urbanisation were observed to be the determining factors in reducing the digital divide during the period of study in the Asia-Pacific region.Originality/valueThe study makes an unique attempt to explore the role of digital/ICT skill in tapering the access-based digital divide in the context of Asia-Pacific region.

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“…In the least-developed countries, the lack of physical access (insufficient network coverage) and material access are the primary factors that create the digital divide. The challenges of affordability and the lack of digital skills in these countries also contribute to the digital divide (Aikins, 2019). Nevertheless, while a common opinion is that the digital divide is entirely solved when a country's Internet connection rate reaches saturation, recent works proved that the digital divide still exists in developed and technologically advanced countries where the network coverage is high (e.g., van Deursen & van Dijk, 2019).…”

Section: Disabled People and The Digital Dividementioning

confidence: 99%

Exploration of ICT Appropriation by Disabled People and Its Effect on Self-Perceived Normalcy

Richard¹,

Plotkina

Saurel

2022

International Journal of Technology and Human Interaction

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Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are omnipresent and define the interactions in society. Within society, there are vulnerable groups of people for whom ICT use is more challenging. Disabled people are the most vulnerable ICT users. To identify the digital divides of access and impact of ICT on disabled users, an exploratory qualitative study was conducted. Relying on a French national association for disability that grants unique access to disabled ICT users, two focus groups and 10 in-depth interviews were carried. The study allows to propose a model of ICT use and effects for disabled people, integrating several types of disabilities. The results show that ICT appropriation by disabled users depends on their perceived self-efficacy in ICT. ICT use can lead to negative effects, including social exclusion and low perceived normalcy. To address societal interests and develop the literature, a research agenda is proposed.

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Determinants of Digital Divide in Africa and Policy Implications

Cited by 13 publications

References 32 publications

Gender composition of ownership and management of firms and the gender digital divide in Africa

Gender composition of ownership and management of firms and the gender digital divide in Africa

The role of digital skill in mitigating digital divide: evidences from Asia-Pacific region

Exploration of ICT Appropriation by Disabled People and Its Effect on Self-Perceived Normalcy

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