Information Engineering (Rekayasa Informasi): April 2009

Global Perspective

Digital Divide

What is Digital Divide ?
Where does Digital Divide happen ?
What cause Digital Divide ?
How important is Digital divide ?

Presentation on Sunday 22 Mar,

* "The term 'digital divide' describes the fact that the world can be divided into people who do and people who don't have access to - and the capability to use - modern information technology, such as the telephone, television, or the Internet. The digital divide exists between those in cities and those in rural areas. It also exists between the educated and the uneducated, between economic classes, and, globally, between the more and less industrially developed nations" (Whatis?com, 1999).
* "The digital divide is the "Differences based on race, gender, geography, economic status, and physical ability:
* In access to information, the Internet and other information technologies and services
* In skills, knowledge, and abilities to use information, the Internet and other technologies"

The Current Structure of Globalization has divided global societies no more by economic aspect, rather, into digital have and digital have-nots (known as digital divide or digital gap). It is written in medias and also naturally accepted that the main factors of the digital gap (especially in developing countries) are; the lack of communication infrastructure, the economic, education, age, politic, employment, disabilities, and some others.

In fact, even in developed countries like Japan, the US and Italy the digital gap is around and become a serious national threat (to the resource development), only with different and more complex factors, like language, culture, and the most important one, the human-being itself. See that while many developing countries are struggling to build and develop their communication infrastructure to share equal information access to all people, the developed countries like Japan, the US and Italy is having a digital gap because of its human-being behavior.

A new Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has evolved the way individuals or societies act upon knowledge creation and knowledge sharing. The emergence of the technology has compelled strong-economic societies to take its advantages. Distance education, distance health-care, e-Commerce, e-Government, weather information, until early disaster warning systems has been carried out by countless societies in advance developed countries, we call these societies (or the countries) as “Digital Have Societies” (or “Digital Have countries”). While in the developing countries, there is only a few individuals or societies benefited from the technology (per Mid 2006, in Japan there is 67.2% of population uses the internet, compare to the Philippines is 9.2%, while in Indonesia only 8.1%). Such individuals or societies usually are in the inner circle of bureaucrats, high-educated background families, wealthy families, or few financially-mature students in big cities. The remains of the population that has never performed knowledge creation and knowledge sharing with the new ICT benefit are named with Digital Have-Not Societies (or Digital Have Not Countries).

A human being has actually performed knowledge creation ever since he /she was a baby. When someone gathers some information from outside him/herself (listening, watching TV, reading a news), then he/she sorts it, arranges it, groups it, processes it and then blends it with the knowledge he or she already possessed, the outcome would be a new knowledge. Such stages are called as a knowledge creation.

While knowledge sharing is an interactive process in a society in supplying proper information to help each other (member of the society) in making the most suitable decision, which in time will affect on improving their quality of life. In developed countries, people have realized that knowledge sharing is not a trivial but a substantial routine activity (Travelers want to know about weather and the best bargain ticket, a pregnant wants to know how to overcome her stomachache or a student wants to understand the Newton Law). Knowledge sharing is the way people getting a better life.

Though the knowledge sharing itself has been part of our global society for ages, the old knowledge sharing (as in a class, in the church, mosque, through radio, TV, printed media) had always been geographically, culturally and hierarchically confined, until the emergence of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). As a new tools and technology, the ICT has astonishingly disclosed the natural limitations (such as; geography and hierarchy) of old knowledge sharing routine. The burgeoning of the ICT has assertively changed and compelled a new paradigm of knowledge sharing. Hence, this new technology is an inevitable challenge for all societies.

Taking the challenge, a society should keep improving and developing their resource (people, information) to maintain their competency, ability and role on such never-ending-developed tools & technology (the ICT). Such society is considered as a Knowledge Society. Any individuals or society that wouldn’t take any challenge – offered by ICT, would be left behind, longer and further. Such individuals or society will be outside the “circle” of knowledge society.

So, a sustainable knowledge society is required by people as a resource of development to keep improving their quality of life, with knowledge creation and knowledge sharing, proffered by the rapid changing of ICT.

The ICT as a matter a fact, holds out (at least) there 3 unprecedented aspects for knowledge society.

1. The ICT, as mentioned above, breaks primitive barriers (space and time) of knowledge sharing. The information brought by the technology could come from another side of our planet. The internet gives a society a boundless and timeless access to the information resources. A palm farmer in South Africa, could remotely and easily learn how to efficiently plant the palm and neatly reap the fruitlets, from an expert in Malaysia.

2. The ICT also grants equal access to information resources. The Internet grants access to the world population equally. A student in a small town in India could have same access to information resources as a professor in MIT, Boston.

3. With ICT, there is no limit for individuals or societies to obtain powerful force from virtual communities. As ICT gives societies an equal access to the internet, the individuals now possess an ability to reach the world-wide population. Individuals could share information, knowledge, unprecedented idea or opinion, even their invitation to influence people (in virtual communities) regarding his or her concerns. Greenpeace could have information and knowledge support from all over the world regarding whale exterminating. Therefore, ICT could gather immense support effectively & efficiently from whole world population.

While the emergence of ICT is very much promising, and seems to make everyone happy, the world we live in, is not an equal one. Simply speaking, our world is divided in to Digital Haves and Digital Have-Nots. This digital gap can be easily observed by; number of internet users; home-base telephone line; home computer with internet access; English and computer literacy; etc. The occurrence of the digital gap, which mainly caused by the lack of ICT roles (in developing countries), will consequently endanger the knowledge sharing in the societies, and subsequently put at risk the development of knowledge society.

Meanwhile, albeit the presence of digital gap is often related to the economic gap, the fact that Japan and even US also experienced with the digital gap is already known. So, besides the lack of ICT roles, there are other ‘multi-dimension” factors that construct the digital gap, such as economic, employment, education, politic, ages, culture and language (others may emerge). At least the last three factors construct the digital gap in developed countries such Japan and US. Hence, as it is clear that the digital gap endangers the development of knowledge society where ever it exist, bridging the one would be the primary endeavor in developing sustainable knowledge society.

Problems:
1. What factors widen digital gap in your place ?
2. Could Digital Divide happen in developed country, like US, Findland and Sweden ? How it happens ?
3. List factors that potentially force digital divide in Japan.
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