The Digital Divide: Current and Future Research Directions

Abstract

The digital divide refers to the separation between those who have access to digital information and communications technology (ICT) and those who do not. Many believe that universal access to ICT would bring about a global community of interaction, commerce, and learning resulting in higher standards of living and improved social welfare. However, the digital divide threatens this outcome leading many public policy makers to debate the best way to bridge the divide. Much of the research on the digital divide focuses on first order effects regarding who has access to the technology, but some work addresses the second order effects of inequality in the ability to use the technology among those who do have access. In this paper, we examine both first and second order effects of the digital divide at three levels of analysis  the individual level, the organizational level, and the global level. At each level, we survey the existing research noting the theoretical perspective taken in the work, the research methodology employed, and the key results that were obtained. We then suggest a series of research questions at each level of analysis to guide researchers seeking to further examine the digital divide and how it impacts citizens, managers, and economies.

A framework for optimal techno-economic assessment of broadband access solutions and digital inclusion of rural population in global information society

“…This suggested method includes processes that provide equal opportunities for all users to acquire broadband services. As can be noticed from the data in [31], inequalities in the availability of broadband access presently exist among different classes with respect to location, gender, and employment status in all countries worldwide.…”

“…A positive correlation between broadband users and the employed population (population with income), the younger population, and the better-educated population (population with a higher level of computer literacy) can be noticed [30]. In countries with the most developed digital economies, i.e., the ones that have the lowest ICT global rank index according to [31], the proportions of the employed, the young and the higher-educated population to the country's total population are the highest [31].…”

“…Also, the digital divide can be noticed among different regions and among different countries worldwide [30]. Accordingly, depending on the size of the area studied, the digital divide can be distinguished in several hierarchical levels [31]. These hierarchical levels include the local (settlements or municipalities), the national (countries), the regional (regions), and the global (world).…”

Niveles de acceso a Internet de los estudiantes del bachillerato en Ecuador

“…Como la presencia de los ordenadores personales e Internet progresó en países desarrollados, el término comenzó a desarrollarse y conceptualizaciones más complejas fueron desarrolladas, incluyendo una secuencia de indicadores de acceso a Internet (Warschauer, 2004;Livingstone & Helsper, 2007;Riggins & Dewan, 2005). Como resultado, se diferencian tres niveles de división digital.…”

“…Superado el acceso a los recursos entre la ciudadanía, se presenta un segundo-nivel de división en el tipo de uso y en las habilidades requeridas para hacer un uso productivo de las TIC (Hargittai, 2002;Riggins & Dewan, 2005;Witte & Mannon, 2010). Los estudios sobre el segundo nivel de brecha digital han proporcionado numerosas clasificaciones sobre los tipos de actividades que las personas realizan on-line y sobre el tipo de habilidades necesarias (Buckingham, 2007;Aguaded, Tirado & Hernando, 2014).…”