Understanding & Use of the Internet (UUI)

Digital Divide

Spring 2012

Goals and Themes Who uses the Internet? Global digital divide Adoption and misuse Non-use Design for use Social Exclusion Digital Divide

• Policy

What is Digital Divide?

Digital Divide Digital divide can be classified as access divide and

social digital divide.

Access digital divide is the gap between people who have access to digital infrastructure and information and those who have no or limited access.

Social digital divide exist due to perception, culture, and interpersonal relationships

Digital Divide (2) Access Divide:

E-service accessResource availability and convenience of access to service

E-service access qualityTimeliness (speed), Trust, and Stability of the service

E-service access SkillsTechnical and applied e-skills for using the service

Social Divide:E-service Awareness

Knowledge of the services availabilityE-service Social Support

Technical assistance and emotional reinforcement from friends and family

E-service Culturability National colors, pictures, and local language Khan et al., 2010,

Digital Participation The Digital Britain report of June 2009 set out its definition of digital

participation as follows:

• Increasing the reach, breadth and depth of digital technology use across all sections of society, to maximize digital participation and the economic and social benefits it can bring.

www.culture.gov.uk/images/publications/digitalbritain-finalreport-jun09.pdf

How can digital participation be measured? The Digital Britain report stated that the following metrics were

critical for the evaluation of activity to promote digital participation:

1) Reach: • Access: number of households online, and numbers using the Internet

outside the home;

2) Breadth of engagement: • Modes of usage and consumption (communication, retail, content

consumed, public services used);

How can digital participation be measured? 3) Depth of engagement: user contributions,

comments, joining networks, user generated content, self publishing, content creation, photos uploaded and shared, etc; and

4) Social and economic impact: particularly the impact on economic recovery and benefits for disadvantaged groups and communities

Digital Divide May be due to.. Economic division, Geographical Division, or Social division

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjfAFsET28c&NR=1

Why people adopt a technology? Why people don’t adopt a technology?

Factors Affecting Adoption (1)

Technological perspective

•From adoption and usage perspective, research has identified several factors that affect e-service adoption for instant

•Trust•Quality (info, system, and service)•Compatibility of the service•Ease of use•Relative advantage•etc

Social perspective:• Motivations • Resources• Voluntary or obliged adoption (peers pressure)

Consumer research point of view:• Functional: they do something practical• Experimental: they provide sensual pleasure• Identity: products provide expression of self identity

• Social and individual context Network effects

• Some innovation have more use as more people have them – slow to start, then much fast uptake a ‘inflection point’

Factors Affecting Adoption (2)

Use/Adoption Factors Correlates with:

• Income e.g.. High GDP more internet use• Age and Life stage• Region• Professional activity• Education• Sex• Ability/Disability• Capital/Wealth• Family with children• Culture etc

Non-use of ICT

Why people don’t adopt• “Not relevant”,”no use”• “Too complicated”, “too

tricky” Practical, experiential, identity

factors•  Physical barriers• Subjective reactions• No resources• No motivation • No community

The Enhanced Barrier Model

Resource Barriers No access, No money, No time or space, No

contact with technology Relevance Barriers Not relevant, No need, Not part of everyday

life, Other more important ways of using resources

Symbolic and Subjective Barriers Disapprove of technology or industry, Dislike

technology, Feel uncomfortable with ICT use, Ignore technology

Knowledge Barriers Do not know about the innovation, Do not

know how to adopt, how to use, how to cope with problems or how to innovate activities.

Non-user strategies• Resistors, Delayers, and Rejectors

How to overcome the barriers:• ‘Reduce the barriers’• Need triggers to use

• These come from other changes in life

Global Digital Divide: Statistics

World-wide Statistics

http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm

ASIA

Europe

North America

South America

Middle East

Middle East

Africa

INTERNET USERS AND POPULATION STATISTICS FOR AFRICA

AFRICA REGION Population(2010 Est.)

Pop. %in World

Internet Users,Latest Data

Penetration(% Population)

Use Growth(2000-2010)

% Users

in World

Total for Africa 1,013,779,050 14.8 % 110,931,700 10.9 % 2,357.3 % 5.6 %

Rest of World 5,831,830,910 85.2 % 1,855,583,116 31.8 % 420.5 % 94.4 %

WORLD TOTAL 6,845,609,960 100.0 % 1,966,514,816 28.7 % 444.6 % 100.0 %

How can we over come DD?

How can we over come DD?We need.. Economic incentives

• E.g. to buy computers (laptops)• To have internet connection at home

Public access to computers• User friendly spaces - cybercafes,

telecentres, • E.g. public libraries, free internet access

points

Provide skills (e.g. The European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL)

Local experts - change agents

Free computers+ for whole communities

Government-industry partnerships E.g. One laptop per child project

Hw can we over come DD?

How can we over come DD? Donors

• Provide Education, telecentres, etc• Donate old computers to less developed countries

Liberalisation• Foreign investment

• Infrastructure - Mobile phones• New markets• Industry (outsourcing)

Questions Is the digital divide an important factor in

social exclusion?

What policies can help promote adoption?

Does technology adoption really lead to social inclusion?

Global Digital Divide: Problems Irrelevance of the Internet

• To expensive, no electricity, no skills etc• Better things to spend money on:

•Health, water, food, roads, education

• Problem of government control and corruption

Problems Access Resources (time, money, experience, social

network) Literacy and Skills

• Basic literacy• Information age literacy

Motivation• Social and individual issues • Life-stage

• We can remove barriers, but not create motivations

Result-> ‘Digital’ exclusion

• Poor Jobs• Limited Government services (e-government)• Limited Information (jobs, consumer, politics)• Few Consumer benefits (cost of not shopping online)• Isolation from new culture

New excluded groups - older men Digital exclusion intensifies as society and

the economy become increasingly based on the Internet

Never Catch up Many interlocking issues. Always new technologies Increased commercialisation

Are the forerunner opening up the gap?

References Martin, Michael J.C. (1994). Managing Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Technology-

based Firms. Wiley-IEEE. p. 44. ISBN 0471572195. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology