Digital Divide

Digital divide refers to the gap between those who have access to the Internet (the “haves”) and those who do not have access (the “have-nots”). There are several dimensions to the digital divide: the social divide, the gap between the information-rich and information-poor within nations; the global divide, the gap between industrialized and developing countries; and the democratic divide, the gap between those who use the Internet for civic participation and those who are passive consumers of Internet resources.

The term digital divide, which became widely popular in the mid-1990s, initially had a fairly simplistic definition, with access defined solely as technical access—access to computers and telecommunication services. Later, definitions of the digital divide began to encompass more complex measures of access—not just access to the technical infrastructure, but also access to the social infrastructure. The social infrastructure includes access to education and content, the ability to produce as well as consume information. A variety of socio-demographic characteristics were also recognized as increasing or inhibiting access, including income, education, gender, race, ethnicity, age, linguistic background, and location (e.g., rural vs. urban). In the North American context, efforts to ameliorate the digital divide have concentrated on setting up community access points for public spaces, such as schools and libraries. International organizations are also making efforts to decrease the digital gap in developing countries. Thus, the digital divide encompasses three main trajectories: access to information and communication technologies, access to the appropriate content, and geopolitical aspects.

Various studies, by governments, industry groups, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), have attempted to measure the digital divide. The U.S. National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) produced the first high-profile study in 1995, with the release of Falling Through the Net: A Survey of the “Have Nots” in Urban and Rural America. Measuring household telephone, computer, and Internet penetration rates to determine who owned telephones and personal computers and who accessed the Internet at home, the study revealed that access was related to socioeconomic and geographic factors, with the information have-nots disproportionately found in rural areas and central cities.

The NTIA's 1999 version of Falling Through the Net, subtitled Defining the Digital Divide, revealed that while more Americans are accessing the Internet, significant discrepancies in access still existed, and in some instances had widened considerably. Race is a factor, as blacks and Hispanics are less likely to be connected anywhere compared to whites at home. Education is a factor, as those with a college degree are more than 16 times more likely to have home Internet access as those with an elementary school degree. Income is a factor, as high-income urban households are more than 20 times as likely as rural, low-income households to have Internet access. Marital status is also a factor, as children in dual-parent white households are nearly twice as likely to have the Internet at home as children in white single-parent households.

The NTIA's 2000 Falling Through the Net report, Toward Digital Inclusion, looked at individual access, household access to high-speed services (such as digital subscriber lines, or DSL), and access for people with disabilities. Overall, the NTIA concluded, digital inclusion is advancing rapidly among most groups of Americans, regardless of income, education, race/ethnicity, location, age, or gender. Furthermore, those who were previously not connected are now making significant gains, particularly across education and gender lines. However, even though computer ownership and Internet access are rising rapidly for most groups, in some cases the digital divide remains the same, or has expanded slightly. This is especially the case for people with disabilities, single-parent households, and for blacks and Hispanics.

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