Overcoming the Digital Divide in Developing Countries

Abstract

countries has been hailed as a major step toward a solution to the problem of the underdevelopment of many of them. Obstacles such as corruption, delays in service delivery, lack of public sector accountability, and so on, can, many believe, be overcome with ICT: particularly, the Internet and cell or mobile phones. Furthermore, ICT is seen as "offering an unprecedented opportunity to overcome existing social divisions and inequalities" (Selwyn 2004: 342) in all societies, and especially developing countries. Digital or e-government will thus provide governments with an effective and efficient channel to facilitate their internal administrations and improve their external services, thereby increasing transparency and generating a higher degree of trust (Ofosu-Adarkwa and Ohemeng 2012).Digital or e-government can enhance information flows in the public sector, and encourage active, as well as effective, public participation by citizens, especially in policy making. Such participation is a valuable tool for building trust -which is a fundamental ethical value in public administration, and which in turn enhances government-citizen relations by identifying, assessing and, thus, satisfying public needs, while repairing recently badly eroded public trust in government and its institutions.A major problem with ICT, however, is that of what has been described as the digital divide: the gap between the Internet literacy, and perhaps aptitude for it, of the citizens, households, businesses and geographic areas at certain socioeconomic levels and those of the same people and entities at others. The problem is more serious in underdeveloped countries (Avgerou and Madon 2005;Brooks et al. 2005; Selwyn 2004). To address it, a number of countries have developed or are developing policies designed to reduce this gap so as to ensure -2 -that all, or at least a greater number, of their citizens benefit from ICT. Ghana is one such country. The government there has developed a policy to this effect. The essence of this paper is, therefore, to examine that policy by considering: the local definition of the digital divide; the steps that are being taken to heal it; the implied challenges, if any, facing the government; and how it can address those challenges.The approach was threefold. First we reviewed the literature that discusses the concept, the implications, and the importance of the digital divide in general and, specifically, for developing countries. Second was a careful examination of the policy content in its present form, necessary because the policy is presently still at the discussion stage. The final step was an indepth interview with some policy makers, ICT experts, and some stakeholders, in order to understand the challenges confronting the government in this area, and determine whether the policy can address the problem. We undertook an elite interview in view of the nature of the policy and widespread ignorance about the digital divide. Interviewees were selected according to the purposive sampling technique.The p...

Digitisation, digital interaction and social media: embedded barriers to democratic heritage

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Kusheh, na minem Fatu, en mi na koko farmer Hello, I am Fatu and I am a cocoa farmer : a Digital Farmer Field School for training in cocoa production and certification in Sierra Leone

“…Interface usability contextualised for farmers, service providers and developers Current views on the 'digital divide' in sub-Saharan Africa and Sierra Leone provide good reasons not to imagine any intervention using digital interfaces in rural Eastern Sierra Leone, although these same authors also imagine digital futures (Fuchs & Horal, 2006;Ohemeng & Ofusu-Adarkwa (2012);Sam, 2015). However, in the design and development of the prototype, the digital divide is not addressed from an international perspective.…”

Digitization of local revenue collection in Ghana: An evaluation of Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA)

“…Nonetheless, there is a limited body of literature that evaluates the role of ICT and e‐government in revenue mobilization at the national and local levels. Also, some of the studies that have focused on the use of ICTs in public institutions have neglected local authorities like MMDAs (Ohemeng & Ofosu‐Darkwah, ; Osei‐Kojo, ), in spite of the inclusion of Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) in the most recent World Bank‐funded e‐Ghana Project in 2008. There is the need for researchers to fill this void, by undertaking studies, which seek to evaluate the implementation of e‐government strategies by local institutions in Ghana.…”

“…Therefore, the findings of scholars like Osei‐Kojo () were not consistent with those of Awortwi and Owusu (). In view of the urgent calls for the reduction of public spending and an increment in revenue generation capacity of MMDAs (Ohemeng & Ofosu‐Darkwah, ), the notion that e‐government enhances revenue capacity of state institutions is contentious and needs further investigation.…”