India: A Digital Divide

The issue of a “Digital Divide” focusses on the lack of technological access for poor and underprivileged members of society. Since I’m from a developing country like India, I have first handedly witnessed this issue and the prevalent technological disparities amongst different social sectors of society. This conflict of technological accessibility in India is rooted from the lack of affordability from the consumers end or the government. Due to the large scales of Poverty in India, the government focuses their funds/expenditure primarily towards providing the poor with basic survival amenities such as; clean water, food, shelter, healthcare, infrastructure, and basic education. There are barely any funds remaining for research and other technological purchases for the benefit of the public/citizens.

1) People who have access to technological devices but not the resources to use the technology.
e.g: having a computer but no/slow wifi.
OR
2) People who have access to resources but not the technological divices.
e.g: having wifi but no device to access the internet with.
OR
3) People who do not have the skills, knowledge and ability to use the technologies.

"India Talent + Information Technology = India Tomorrow" - Prime Minister Narendra Modi

COMPUTER ROOM, IIT (INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY), MUMBAI, INDIA

COMPUTER TERMINALS, ROSE READING ROOM, NEW YORK CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY, USA, NEW YORK CITY

CENTRAL PUBLIC LIBRARY, DHAKA, BANGLADESH

Where is a Digital Divide observed?

1) Between rural and urban areas.
2) Between the educated and uneducated population.
3) Between the rich and poor.

1) Growth is favoured in urban areas, neglecting rural area development and progress.

2) Lack of good public educational services, which lead to students not having a good quality of education and skills in order to operate technologies.

3) Poverty leads to people not being able to afford technological resources such as wifi or devices. This issue is routed from massive socio-economic differences amongst the population.

4) Language is barrier for people who do not easily communicate in English.

5) Delays in implementation of government polices and developments.

6) Population growth is very rapid.

7) Infrastructure barrier; in terms of telecommunication infrastructure with low or insufficient bandwidth for internet.

8) Tax fraud reduces government earnings, and hence reduces the amount of funds that could be allocated towards reducing a digital divide.

9) Lack of technological skill and development programmes.

Citations:

Aguilera, Alex. “The Digital Divide & How to Bridge It – Alex Aguilera – Medium.” Medium.com, Medium, 28 Jan. 2018, medium.com/@alex.aguilera1202/the-digital-divide-how-to-bridge-it-50b5c218173d.

Banerjee, Ankita. “IIT Bombay Campus Is A Little Township By Itself.” OfficeChai, 12 Jan. 2017, officechai.com/miscellaneous/iit-bombay-campus-offers-a-potion-called-untainted-nature/.

“Central Public Library Dhaka Bangladesh.” Central Public Library Dhaka Bangladesh, 2009, www.centralpubliclibrarydhaka.org/.

Limited, Alamy. “Stock Photo - COMPUTER TERMINALS ROSE READING ROOM NEW YORK CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY.” Alamy, www.alamy.com/stock-photo-computer-terminals-rose-reading-room-new-york-city-public-library-16065861.html.

“Digital Divide in India.” GKToday, GKToday, 2016, www.gktoday.in/gk/digital-divide-in-india/.

B.T. Sampath Kumar. “The Digital Divide in India: Use and Non-Use of ICT by Rural and Urban Students.” EmeraldInsight, 2018, www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1108/WJSTSD-07-2017-0021.