ON THE BRINK OF THE DIGITAL DIVIDE英Word格式文档下载.docx

ON THE BRINK OF THE DIGITAL DIVIDE英Word格式文档下载.docx

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1999

2000

2001

2002

Austria

211

235

260

280

335

369

Belgium

246

285

313

342

361

240

Cyprus

101

121

173

199

224

276

CzechRepublic

82

97

107

122

136

177

Denmark

360

378

414

507

541

577

Estonia

96

113

135

160

183

210

Finland

312

350

396

425

442

France

194

233

268

305

329

347

Greece

45

52

57

76

85

Holland

283

326

362

397

432

467

Ireland

241

273

316

392

421

Poland

39

49

62

69

106

Latvia

40

61

143

152

172

Lithuania

34

54

59

65

70

110

Luxemburg

383

389

459

453

590

Hungary

58

74

87

100

108

Malta

134

159

185

230

255

Great-Britain

239

269

303

339

368

406

Germany

279

297

336

382

431

Italy

132

156

179

195

231

Portugal

73

80

105

117

Spain

109

146

169

196

Sweden

452

508

563

621

Slovakia

137

148

180

Slovenia

189

212

253

301

Table1.EstimatednumberofInternetusers

（KSH）

ComparingthenumbersinthetablewecanseethataccordingtothenumberoftheInternetusersthereisadigitaldividewithintheEuropeanUnion.Inmoderneconomies,accesstocomputers,theInternetandincreasinglybroadbandcommunicationsisseenasessentialforfutureprosperity.Consequently,lackofaccesscouldbeasignificantbrakeoneconomicgrowth.Onanationalbasis,incountriessuchastheUKwherepenetrationofcomputersandInternetusageishigh,provisionofaccesstobroadbandconnectionisimportantenoughtobeembodiedingovernmentpolicy.ThisviewisheldbymostWesternEuropeancountries,theEuropeanUnionandtheUnitedNations.WiththeenlargementoftheEU,theneedtoprovideequitableaccesstowhatisreferredtoastheInformationSocietyisseenasessential.

2.Determiningtheconceptofthedigitaldivide

Insimpleterms,itisthedividebetweenthosewhohaveaccesstocomputersandtheInternetandthosewhodonot.The“digitaldivide,”orthegapbetweentheabilityofprivilegedmembersofoursociety,andthatofhistoricallydisadvantagedmembers,toaccessandusetechnology（Ermann2003）.

AfundamentalquestionmustbeaddressedbeforeonecanstatewhetherinequalitiesinICTaregrowingorclosing:

Istheinequalityalackofanexistingtechnology,orisitbecauseoftherelativegapbetween’haves’and’have-nots’,regardlessoftheparticulartechnology?

Onthewhole,currenttechnologiesarediffusingacrossnational,ethnic,gender,incomeandageboundaries,butnewtechnologiesarecausingnewdivisions.Adoptionofbroadbandaccesshasfollowedthesamepatternasthatofthecomputer-primarilyamongwealthy,whiteindividualsandlargecompanies.Sincethetechnologyisnewer（andmoreexpensive）,itcurrentlyshowsanevenwidergaparoundtheworld.

3.Thecausesofthedigitaldivide

Thereareseveralreasonsofdevelopingofthedigitaldividefromtheinfrastructurethroughthelanguagetotheethnicity.Inthefollowingweexamineeachstepbystep.

3.1PhysicalICTaccessbetweencountries-ThenumberofPCs,amountofInternetbandwidthnumberoftelephonemainlines,mobilephones,andotherinformationtechnologyareslowlyrisingforallcountries,butthe"

informationhave"

countriesaregrowingfastest,thuswideningthedivisions.

3.2Pricing-ComputerandInternetaccesspricesaredecreasingaroundtheworld,puttingthesetechnologieswithinreachofincreasingnumbersofpeople.Nonetheless,withinOECDcountriesatleast,thelowestincomehouseholdsareincreasingtheircomputerandInternetlevelsfasterthanthehighestincomegroups-inpartsincehighincomegroupsalreadyhadhighpenetrationratesandlowerincomesgroupshadgreaterroomforincrease（OECD2001c）.WilllowerpricesbeenoughforeveryoneindevelopingcountriestohaveaPCineveryhome?

Theanswer,unfortunately,isno.

3.3Nationalinfrastructure-Networkinfrastructureisslowlygrowingaroundtheworld,andinformation’have-nots’willgainincreasingbandwidthandtelephoneaccess.Butasnewtechnologiescomealong,especiallyinbroadbandinfrastructure,theywillremain’behindthecurve’andbeyearsbehindtheinformation’haves’.

3.4Internetusage-IntermsofInternetHosts,therelativegapisincreasing-thegapbetweenNorthAmericaandAfricawasamultipleof267in1997,byOctober2000itwas540（OECD2001b）.TheentireAfricanContinenthas0.25%ofallInternetHosts,themajorityofwhichareinSouthAfrica,andtheoverallpercentageisdecreasing.（OECD2001b）.Nonetheless,thetotalnumberofusersinallareasisincreasing.

3.5Englishlanguage-BecauseofthesheernumbersofnewpeoplestartingtousetheInternet,theUSwillloseitspredominanceonthebasicmetricsofnumberofusersandEnglishasthemajoritylanguage"

CurrentpredictionsindicatethatInternetuserscouldexceedthe1billionmarkby2006,with700millionlocatedoutsideHowever,evenasthe"

languagedivide"

decreasesintermoftherelativenumberofnon-Englishwebsites,Englishisstillthelingua-francaofe-commerceandmostheavilyfundedresourcesontheNet.AstheNetdiversifies,thelanguageofthebusinesscommunityandrelatedwebsitescanbeexpectedtoreflecttheexistinguseoflanguageinnon-onlinegroups（withsomedelay）,whichoftenexcludesnon-English（andespeciallynon-’majorlanguage’speakers）.

3.6ICTsintheeconomy-WhileafewcountrieshavesuccessfullydevelopedlocalICTsectorsandcapturedasignificantportionofinternationalICTtrade,itseemsunlikelythatmanynewcountriescancompeteinthisarena.Nonetheless,technologiesspecificallytargetedforunderservedpopulationsholdgreatpromiseforeasingdivisionsinICTaccess.

3.7Divisionsbyeducation-IncountrieswithalreadyhighInternetaccessratesamongthehighlyeducated,thosewithlowereducationlevelsareincreasingICTusemorerapidlythanthosewiththehighestlevelsofeducation（whichhavehigherICTuse）-inpartbecausetheyaregrowingfromasmallerstartingpointNonetheless,agapremains,andmayreoccurwithnewtechnologies.IncountrieswhereInternetaccessisonlystartingtotakeoff,onecanexpectthatthosewithhighereducationwillusethetechnologyfirst,increasinglocaldivisions.

3.8Divisionsbyethnicity-IntheEUatleast,ethnicdifferencesintechnologyhavedecreasedsignificantly-butonlywhenincomeistakenintoaccount.Inotherwords,ethnicgroupsofthesameincomelevelhaverelativelythesameaverageusageoftechnology.

3.9Divisionsbygender-Thegenderdividewillsteadilydecrease,atleastintermsofusersoftheInternet.However,the’numberofusers’onlinestatisticisonlyasmallpartofthe’genderdivide’.MaleusersofinformationtechnologyatthecorporatelevelandITprofessionsarestillinthevastmajorityandreceivehigherpayforthesamejobs,andwilllikelyremainsoforsometimetocome.

3.10Rural-urbandivisions-Experiencetodatehasshownthatnewinformationtechnologiesareusuallyadoptedfirstincentralcities,andslowlydispersetoperipheralcitiesandruralareas.Thisappearstobebecauseofhigherinfrastructurecosts,loweraveragewages,andalowerlikelihoodofjobsinruralareasusingcomputers（OECD2001c）.Incountrieswhereaparticulartechnologyhasrecentlyreachedthecapitalcities,divisionswithruralcanbeexpectedtogrowbeforetheysignificantlydisperse.Additionally,newtechnologiesshowgapingnewdivisions-asisoccurringwithbroadbandaccessinsomecountries.

3.11Age-Innewlyadoptingcountries,youngishgroupswillgetthetechnologyfirst,thedivideisthenexpected