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*Digital Divide*\\
The digital divide can be broadly defined as the gap between individuals and communities that derive benefits from digital technology and those that do not. The degree and nature of this gap is influence by many factors such as socioeconomic status, variance in cognitive and physical abilities, education level, race and gender differences, cultural receptivity, and geographical location. These factors are of course often interrelated and attempts to minimize the divide engender successful solutions by addressing all these facets of the problem. Also important is an acknowledgment that the notion of a divide creating a binary separation between haves and have-nots is overly reductive and that a nuanced gradation exists for all individuals and communities in their relationship to technology-derived benefits.

While much work has been done to understand the various factors that influence the digital divide, I focused more on discussions regarding the evolution of the term itself and its impact on policy making. While the digital divide was originally construed as a difference in access to technology devices such as computers, more recent attention has centered around differences in benefits derived from technology. As such, early policy favored hardware and infrastructure expansion with the belief that the objects themselves were the goal, or that they would lead to benefits on their own. Only later were issues surrounding users' skill and understanding, as well as availability of culturally valuable content, better understood and highlighted. This movement parallels other trends in computing away from technology as an artifact to technology's potential role in addressing the larger issue of disenfranchisement. To put it another way, the digital slice is only one piece of a much larger divide.

I found Mark Warschauer's analysis based on literacy acquisition to be most useful in understanding the larger issues involved with a digital or information divide. He argues that access to, and use of, information technologies requires four resources: Physical Resources (books/ computers and the enabling technologies), Content Resources (relevant, localized information), Human Resources (skilled and educated users), and Social Resources (community/cultural and institutional support). While providing computers might be the first step, they alone cannot provide benefits without the communal support needed to maintain and promote their functionality, the requirements and investigations of capable users, and the availability of relevant information. Because of the related requirements, efforts to reduce the digital divide may benefit from a close analysis of the longer and broader struggle to eliminate gaps in literacy rates.

\\*CLever Project:*\\
The Clever Projects focus on various technological and theoretical frameworks that help empower individuals and communities to accomplish their goals. While much of the focus is on individuals with cognitive disabilities, the overall approach is designed to provide solutions that benefit all individuals. 

The movie focused on one CLever project designed to help individuals improve their mobility through the use of public transportation. This project can be viewed as addressing the digital divide by creating a technological solution, via a mobile device for the individual and monitoring software for members of the individual's support network, that would help address a meaningful problem for the participants.


\\*Resources:*\\
__Reconceptualizing the Digital Divide by Mark Warschauer__ #bubblec('(cited 2008-09-08)', 'Good to list the date! One thing though: I admit it, I dont know what is the best way to do it, but isnt it visited rather then cited?')\\
http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue7_7/warschauer/

__Brief History of the Digital Divide by Kevin Bulger__ (cited 2008-09-08)\\
http://www.ctcvista.org/node/717

__ICT Convergence and the Digital Divide: The Story of Malaysia and Singapore__ (cited 2008-09-08)\\
http://www.allacademic.com//meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/1/1/3/0/6/pages113068/p113068-1.php

CLever Home Page (cited 2008-09-08)\\
http://l3d.cs.colorado.edu/clever/index.html