Digital Divide

The term digital divide is used to describe the gap between those who have access to powerful technology tools and know how to use them and those who don’t. The digital divide has been talked about since the 1980s, when computers began to appear in the workplace and then in schools. As computers became part of information networks in the 1990s, the effect of the digital divide grew to include access, or lack of access, to the Internet and all of its resources. In life, the digital divide is much deeper than hardware and network connections and includes several levels of access, which are described in what follows. This entry presents a description of the effects of the divide on human economic well-being and provides ...