Thinking Locally and Globally on the Digital Divide

[Paul Lamb]

In the on again off again popularity of discussions around the Digital Divide, the New York Times chose "on again" with its coverage of the issue during this week's "Breakthrough Learning in the Digital Age" event at Google. Apparently a couple of the event's speakers approached the issue of urgency of gap filling quite differently. O one argued for an all out effort to get all kids up to speed within 5 years, and another suggested that technology adoption would occur naturally and without the need for a push to fill current gaps in adoption and use of the Internet, etc.

Regardless on which side of the debate you fall on (full disclosure: I'm for purposeful and intelligent gap filling), here's a much more nuanced and interesting discussion of the worldwide digital divide and progress toward bridging it made since 2000 - with a particular focus on Africa.

In addition to providing some good stats from the ITU (i.e., roughtly 25% Internet penetration and 61% cellular penetration rate worldwide), and referencing the disparities in various regions, author Genet Mershait reaches the following conclusions. Greater ICT penetration relies on national leadership, appropriate pricing as a result of fair taxation and government policies. He suggests that latecomers to the connectivity party will need to encourage local investment in ICT to speed things up.