Note: In this post, I have used APA style citation due to certain unavoidable reasons.
For the
past few weeks, I have been here in a remote village – and I mean it when I say
‘remote’. The village is 300 kms from the nearest metropolitan city, 100+ kms
from the nearest railway station, 30 kms from the District headquarter, and 15
kms from the nearest National Highway (that’s the nearest road, you can say –
the 15 km road till the NH is less of a road and more of a walking trail).
The
positives, however, in addition to the breath-taking greenery and scenic hills,
are quite a few. The village has got an electricity connection since past 15
years, and now almost everyone in the village has an electricity connection to
their houses. The village got its first Public Service Centre (Jan Seva Kendra) a few years back and it's
working fine to avail some of the benefits of e-governance to the villagers.
Majority of the youth do have access to the internet and do use it
regularly, thanks to the low-priced packs of BSNL Orissa.
Few days back,
I needed some household equipment, and habitually opened Amazon – only to
realise most of the sellers do not deliver to this place. I switched sites,
across Flipkart, Snapdeal, and a lot more – only to get the same disappointment
everywhere. And it was then when it occurred to me – ‘Digital Divide’ is not
just a policy buzzword, it’s a reality that can be seen in the remotest of the
villages and smartest of the metros, from the richest of the Indians to the
poorest of the localities.
The Digital Divide – what?
In the wake
of the recent technological advancements, most of our lives have taken a
digital turn – for better or for worse – and many aspects of our daily lives
have been in some way or other affected by Information technology. Information
Technology, inter alia, has revolutionised the way ideas were communicated,
transformed organisational interactions and management, introduced new contours
of privacy and free speech, reshaped both work and leisure, shaped economies,
jobs, and industries and a lot more.
However,
the changes have not been uniform – the fruits of revolution have not been
equitably distributed. Everyone has not been uniformly endowed with information
technology and the immense power that it unlocks – and since technology is not
just a reward but also a tool, for paving way for further development – the
factors that caused non-uniform distribution of computing resources in the
first place have been deepened between those with access to technology and
those without (OECD) . In short,
information technology has ‘split the world more deeply between winners and
losers’.
Digital
divide is generally referred to as the gap between people who have an active
access to the internet and people who do not (Basu, 2012) . The ‘gap’ that’s
being talked about here means ‘inequality’, primarily, and can mean all types
of them – starting from social to economic to personal and psychological. Seemingly
simple, the digital divide is in fact one of the most multifaceted inequality
that you can witness in an increasingly globalising world.
Just another form of inequality?
Is the
Digital Divide ‘merely’ another form of inequality? ‘Merely’ would not be the
appropriate word usage here, if we analyse the consequences and implications
thereof! The internet has obviously amplified plethora of human capabilities –
and vices as well.
This ‘gap’ –
the Digital Divide – is important because of its interrelation with other forms
of inequalities that statistical studies have shown. Digital divide has been
found to have a number of different dimensions including that of physical
access, economic status and affordability, gender differences (OECD, 2018) , difference in age
groups, geographical location, skills (Deursen & Mossberger, 2018) , and even education
level of users (OECD) .
Statistics
has shown that certain segments of the predefined notions of various
socio-economic classes are more likely to be deprived of having an effective
and regular access to internet and allied services – the elderly, the rural
population, the female members, the uneducated, to cite a few examples (UNDP, n.d.) .
In our
story, the Digital Divide is a powerful villain primarily because of two
reasons: first being, it is reflective of the already existing socio-economic
inequalities, and it does the job of further deepening those existing inequalities.
It further increases the gap between those who have an active access to the
innovations, and those who do not (OECD, 2001) .
Secondly,
the ever-increasing emphasis on protecting intellectual property usage in the recent
years has acted detrimentally when it comes to economic equality, and has significantly
contributed to the contours of this gap in socio-technological sector. There
exists an inherent and indispensable interrelation between technology transfer,
social inequality, and the digital divide; and the inconsiderate IP policies
only strengthen this interrelationship.
The ‘gap’ isn’t just a word!
Technology
is a two-edged sword, more often than not, and this is no different a case. Most
breakthrough technological innovations are ambivalent in terms of capabilities –
they are useful both in bridging the gap, and also deepening the gap as well.
The deciding factor here is the policy – policy can make a technology bridge
the gap, or deepen the gap. However, more than policy, significance can be
attributed to public awareness, and social ethics.
‘Digital
divide’ isn’t just a policy jargon or a socio-economic buzz word – it’s a
burning issue that matters, and demands focused attention and study. Digital
divide, as an issue, matters because of its far-reaching implications. In the
wake of visions and dreams of a ‘Digital India’, policy framing in the light of
these alarming issues are the only way forward if we dream of an India with
liberty and equality at its forefront; an India ‘where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic
walls’ (we must admit, Tagore dreamt really futuristic!).
Bibliography
Basu, S. (2012,
June). Concept of Access and the Digital Divide.
Deursen, A. J.,
& Mossberger, K. (2018, June). Any Thing for Anyone? A New Digital Divide
in Internet-of-Things Skills. Policy & Internet, pp. 122-140.
OECD. (2001). Understanding
the Digital Divide. Retrieved from Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development: http://www.oecd.org/internet/ieconomy/1888451.pdf. (Last
accessed on 29 April 2019, at 8:50 PM IST)
OECD. (2018). Bridging
the Digital Gender Divide. OECD.
OECD. (n.d.). Bridging
the Digital Divide. Retrieved from Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development: https://www.oecd.org/site/schoolingfortomorrowknowledgebase/themes/ict/bridgingthedigitaldivide.htm.
(Last accessed on 1 May 2019, at 7:47 PM IST)
UNDP. (n.d.). Human
Development Reports. Retrieved from United Nations Development Programme:
http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports. (Last accessed on 30 April 2019, at 7:15 AM
IST)
