Assign 2 - Zac Taschdjian

The Digital Divide

Broadly defined, the "digital divide" refers to the gap between people or groups with access to technology and those without access. (Arrison, 2002) Some authors consider this phenomenon to have three elements; a global divide between developed nations with functioning IT infrastructure and those without, a social divide within nations between the "information rich and poor", and a democratic divide between people who use digital information to participate in public life and those who do not. (Norris, 2001) One could add to this list a divide between people who are not cognitively or developmentally able to use digital technology and those who are; the fundamental assumption of projects like CLever. I will return to CLever.

The Digital Divide and Global Social Inequality

My own experience with this phenomenon comes secondhand from my father. He works as a consultant (and CU Instructor) assisting the governments of developing countries in developing their IT infrastructure. On his recent return from Ethiopia, he mentioned that it was difficult to work toward getting internet, TV and communications technology when the roads, hospitals, water supply and indeed most critical infrastructure was sub par or completely non-existent. His point was that #bubblec('a digital divide in Ethiopia', 'Do you mean trying to reduce it?'), and probably many other developing countries, is a misplaced use of resources. In Bill Clinton, in his 1999 State of the Union address, conjured the notion of a "national crusade" to address the digital divide. (Thierer, 2000) While he was specifically referring to an American digital divide, there is an undercurrent of #bubblec('Western hubris in thinking', 'Actually, I remeber Kofi Annan in 2004 or 2005 talking about this. And hes from Kenya. So, it doesnt seem to be a solely western idea') that the biggest problem facing developing countries is their lack of internet access. This is born out by organizations like USAID allocating resources to address the lack of digital technology in developing countries when more critical infrastructure such as schools or healthcare is lacking. One might cynically conjecture that the real interest in developing IT infrastructure in these places is to tap previously closed consumer markets and dispense propaganda.

Of course a strong counterargument could be made that a global digital divide is causing irreparable damage to both developed and developing nations. A lack of communications resources in developing countries where many people lack phones, let alone computers, inculcates information isolation. An informed citizenry, one that has unfettered access to information, is often pivotal in socioeconomic development where connectivity replaces a library, marketplace, school and sometimes health clinic. (Norris, 2001).

In my opinion, developed countries are also hurt by a global digital divide. Alternatively, developed countries benefit from closing the global digital divide in the following ways; A) increased political stability; countries with access to information are better able to support democracy, challenge military regimes, and create civil society B) enhanced homeland security; governments can monitor external threats using their own technology in addition to using human intelligence sources C) the ability to project "soft power"; developed countries can craft their own messages and identities (propaganda) to counter messages from hostile corners. Of course, all of these areas have their own drawbacks and counter examples.

It would be naïve to think that bridging a digital divide would solve the worlds ills. I am in agreement with Lisa Servon that the digital divide is symptomatic of a more fundamental underlying problem; global poverty and inequality. (Servon, 2002) It is debatable whether a digital divide is also a causal factor of poverty, but it is doubtless to me that is a form of inequality.

Digital Divide and Accessibility

While the concept of a global digital divide inhabits the domain of socioeconomics and politics, a gap based on cognitive and developmental differences embodies a different set of challenges; accessibility on a more personal scale. The CLever movie raised a few interesting points concerning accessibility as a digital divide.

First, Amy and her mother had to be willing to try the technology. No matter how simple the learning process, a psychological barrier had to be crossed by both of them. This raises issues of incentive. #bubblec('If Amy was 75 years old instead of 26, would she have been as willing to try it', 'Interesting point. Age is certainly one additional aspect of the digital divide. And the aspects can combine.')? Would her mother? My tacit assumption here is that age is a dependant variable in the adoption of technology.

The second issue this raised for me is the nature of disability and the method for designing technological aids. Disability seems to fall on a continuum of impairment with people ranging from "mild" to "severe". Multiply this by the various forms of disability and it appears that there few people with the "same" disability. From the standpoint of a design methodology, every tool would have to be customized for its user. Participatory design would be essential because every user is different and, while there might be broad categories of overlap, every tool would be different. Not only that, a good cognitive aid would need to be highly learnable, be adaptive to emergent situations and have redundancy in case of failure. It's not surprising that there is a divide in this area with such challenges. The fundamental challenge appears to be one of generalizabilty; how to efficiently and economically create tools that will successfully address a diverse range of disabilities.

Arrison, Sonia. March 13, 2002. Perspective: What Digital Divide? http://news.cnet.com/2010-1071-858537.html

Norris, Pippa. 2001. Digital Divide: Civic Engagement, Information Poverty and the Internet Worldwide. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, UK.

Servon, Lisa, J. 2002. Bridging the Digital Divide: Technology, Community and Public Policy. Blackwell Publishers, Malden, MA.

Theirer, Adam. February 1, 2000. A Digital Divide or a Deluge of Opportunity? http://www.heritage.org/Research/InternetandTechnology/EM646.cfm