Digital stepping stone

The term "digital divide" has come to be one of the many used to distinguish rich from poor countries. However, the gap in information and communications technology (ICT) access may not be as big as people generally believe.

Two World Bank economists, Carsten Fink and Charles Kenny, recently published a paper titled "Whither the Digital Divide?" in which they question the logic of using the expression and whether the divide is really that big.

The publication of the paper coincided with the World Summit on Information Society in Geneva in December, and naturally, it received little attention as it seems to go against the grain of politically correct thinking.

The only publicity the paper received was in the British publication The Economist in its 24 to 30 January edition.

The economists suggest that the digital divide may actually be shrinking rather than growing and so policies designed to bridge the gap may have to be reworked. Both also note that the phrase "digital divide" came to prominence due to its alliterative potential rather than its terminological exactitude.

They argue that the term is used in several distinct ways to describe the gap in access to and usage of ICT between rich and poor countries. The digital divide is almost always described in terms of the number of telephones and/or Internet access per head of population.

So while the gap so defined looks enormous, growth rates tell a different story. In the developing world, adoption rates during the 1990s stood at more than 100% compared to 50% in the developed countries. They conclude: "It is not how large it is, but how rapidly it is closing."

Their point was backed by the rapid adoption of cellular technology that was boasted about at the GSM in Africa Conference in Cape Town last year. In many African countries, cellular phone use far outstrips landline use, and the question has been what services and access the people want rather than just getting connected.

But while the huge adoption of ICT in developed countries has brought productivity benefits, this is still largely to materialise in the developing countries.

Paul Vecchiatto, Journalist, ITWeb

An alternative measure to describe the digital divide is the use of per income availability of ICT. This means assessing the number of phones and Internet users per dollar of gross domestic product to give a measure of the importance attached to ICT. Using this measure, the digital divide becomes a "digital leap-frog".

But while the huge adoption of ICT in developed countries has brought productivity benefits, this is still largely to materialise in the developing countries. Part of the problem may be that the adoption rates have not reached a threshold that may allow this yet.

However, as many economists know, productivity is not easily measured and there are signs that the adoption of ICT, again cellphones, may be helping to increase countries` informal economies. For instance, in one West African country, the placement of cellphone beacons near the seashore helped fishermen to stay out at sea longer, as they can now receive weather reports and call for help if they run into trouble.

Of serious concern are the unequal levels of ICT adoption found within the developing countries. However, the use of cheap cellular technology and newer solutions to overcome issues such as power generation and cultural practices are helping to overcome that problem.

Then there is no doubt that as a country develops its ICT, its opportunities for trading and receiving non-aid revenue will grow substantially. And that will allow it to tackle other important issues such as health, food and education.