Currently, every aspect of our life is related to technology and technological innovations in one or more ways. This dependency ranges from the cellphones we use for our day to day activities to the more sophisticated and modern vehicles and household appliances.  

Digital concerns also strengthen many of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Gender equality, good health, quality education, industry innovation, smart and sustainable cities: these all requirements and are strongly tied to information and communications technology systems to realize them. But when it comes to developing countries the penetration and quality of the information technology infrastructures and services is highly restricted which created the so-called digital divide between them and the developed countries.

The Digital Divide, or the digital split, is a social issue referring to the differing amount of information between those who have access to the Internet (especially broadband access) and those who do not have access. The term became popular among concerned parties, such as scholars, policymakers, and advocacy groups, in the late 1990s. Mobile phone penetration and Internet penetration across the globe is broadly aligned with Gross National Income per capita. Broadly speaking, countries with richer people on average are more connected than poorer countries. In developed countries, slow and steady growth has increased the percentage of the world's population using the Internet, from 51.3 percent in 2005 to 80.9 percent in 2018. In developing countries, more-sustained growth has shown an increase from 7.7 percent in 2005 to 45.3 percent at the end of 2018 (ITU, 2018).

As the world moves from simple voice services and devices to more complex Internet-based services, the issues of digital inequality become more complex than just connectivity. More comprehensive indicators and data modeling are required to understand issues of inclusion and exclusion, and what factors are driving them. The digital divide is not necessarily determined by the access to the Internet, but by access to ICT infrastructures and to media that the different segments of society can use. With regards to the Internet, access is only one aspect, other factors such as the quality of connection and related services should be considered. Today the most discussed issue is the availability of the access at an affordable cost and quality.

The problem is often discussed in an international context, indicating certain countries are far more equipped than other developing countries to exploit the benefits from the rapidly expanding Internet. The digital divide is not indeed a clear single gap which divides society into two groups. Researchers report that disadvantage can take such forms as:

• lower-performance computers,

• lower-quality or high price connections (i.e. narrow band or dial up connection),

• the difficulty of obtaining technical assistance, and

• lower access to subscription-based contents.

There are a variety of arguments regarding why closing the digital divide is important. The major arguments are the following:
 

1. Economic Equality

One of the basic necessities considered these days in developed countries is Internet access. Some countries such as Sweden have also included access to the Internet as a human right in their constitution. When it comes to developing countries, this access can solve many economic problems such as the access to market and checking of market prices for different items can be enhanced through SMS messages which will help remote farmers get connected to the market and sell their products with a market competitive price. In addition, social services such as health service access can be carried out through ICT infrastructures. A good example of this is a telemedicine service carried out in some rural areas in many African countries which helped carry out complex medical procedures and medical education practices through video conferencing with specialists in the field. Many other examples can also be cited here.
 

2. Social mobility

Some believe that computer and computer networks play an increasingly important role in their learning and career so that education should include that of computing and use of the Internet. Without such offerings, the existing digital divide works unfairly to the children in the lower socioeconomic status. In order to provide equal opportunities, governments might offer some form of support. This can be for instance carried out through a plasma TV broadcast which can help students at different locations and socioeconomic statuses to get an equal opportunity of education as that practiced in Ethiopian secondary level education.

3. Democracy

One of the problems that face developing countries is the uneasy access to democratic processes or human rights services. These include election processes which are usually sources of violence due to the clarity of the procedures and results or judiciary services which take months to years until they reach to the decision which frustrates citizens. These and other related democracy and good governance issues can be solved through the help of ICT. For instance, some African countries are currently using online polling services to carry out transparent and reliable election processes.

4. Economic growth

Today there is a common consensus on the idea that the development of information infrastructure and active use of it would be a shortcut to economic growth for developing nations. ICT, in general, tends to be associated with productivity improvements. The use of these technologies can enhance the productivity of industries in helping increase their production volume, decrease their expenses and optimize their use of resources. This in turn positively affects the economy of a nation through for instance increased taxes from the increased productions or by expanding the industries so that hiring additional human power which has also another good impact on the economy.

Bridging the Gap

The backbone idea that information and communication technologies and their outputs are essential to our day to day life is gaining ground nowadays. Some suggest that the Internet and other ICTs are somehow transforming society, improving our mutual understanding, eliminating power differentials, realizing a truly free and democratic world. In many countries, access to the telephone system is considered such a vital element that governments implement various policies to offer affordable telephone service. These services can be provided by government-owned service providers or private service providers but still, need a huge investment in order to deliver the services to the mostly rural and usually remote areas in developing countries.

In addition to the penetration and availability issues, literacy of the society can also be considered as one of the factors that will affect the ICT exposure of a society. This is mainly related to understanding technological devices and using them for different purposes such as operating computers, operating cell phones, and others.

Unfortunately, in the world, there are still 757 million adults including 115 million youths who cannot read or write a simple sentence most of which are found in developing countries and regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa (UNESCO, 2015). Although this is the case currently ICT device manufacturers or assemblers, usually those found in developing countries, are trying to come up ways that can make the usage of these devices as simple as possible for these kinds of society members by incorporating features such as voice command or simple keystrokes for sophisticated functions.

The effort to bridge the gap should also be supported by governments by integrating ICT educations in their curriculum starting from elementary schools which in turn can depend on their commitment and capacity to provide the necessary materials or resources. In addition, they should implement the best digital practices and stay up to date with innovation. National policies and legal frameworks need to be harmonized. The capacity and knowledge gap can be filled using experts in the area that are working in developed countries using volunteer service mechanisms or through international organizations working on ICT development. Luckily many giant companies involved in the ICT sector are investing billions of dollars annually to support the effort of ICT infrastructure expansion and availability in different ways. Governments and private companies involved in the sector in developing countries should make the most out of this support.

References

• ( ITU , 2018) https://news.itu.int/itu-statistics-lea ving-no-one-offline /
• (UNESCO,2015) http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/information-and-communication-technology-ict-in-education-in-sub-saharan-africa-2015-en.pdf

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