Open in app

Sign in

Write

Sign in

Falling Down the Digital Divide

My obviously biased and morbid biggest lesson from last year is that we are in an almost unstoppable technology driven risk environment. If you are eager for some gloomy predictions and depressing analysis; I urge you to read on..

Hulki Okan Tabak
Coinmonks
Published in
9 min readJan 1, 2021

--

Kellepics / Pixabay

Is the Digital Divide for real?

You probably have heard of Digital Divide concept years ago. In its most basic definition, it is the gap between those who benefit from the digitalization in general versus others who do not. 2020 tested this concept from many angles. When the global response to coronavirus, especially in vaccination, was somewhat mustered, technology was a key driver in facilitating this collaboration. Similarly when individuals sought information on the health issues regarding the virus, the internet and some of the health data analytics sites were the go-to sources. Around the same time, there was an explosion in the Decentralized Finance segment on the Ethereum blockchain. The global rally in equities was fueled primarily by big tech companies. Robots become more agile, autonomous vehicles became smarter and the ratio of robot workers in the factories continued higher.

Meanwhile, have we tried to look at the other side of the chasm? Too few people, too seldom a try.. Had we done so, we would see that over there cryptocurrency is less known and how to purchase is a mystery. Have we wondered how the displaced workers by automation and technology innovations will continue to consume and much more importantly live a decent life? Did we get bothered by the risk of propaganda that a person who has not diversified his information sources would be prone to one sided media propaganda that will eventually shape or at least affect his opinion? Have we notice the poor countries stay poor pandemic or not?

The divide did not only stay in its place during 2020 — with its overarching reality, it got wider and deeper while some people Zoomed over it..

Cornerstones of the Digital Divide

This is not a mathematical article, not much calculation or figures can be found in it. It is only a dark opinion piece. Consequently, I am not looking for the right cornerstones but the ones I deem important and explanatory.

Internet

To go across the divide, an internet connection is a must. Unlike our increasingly laggy home connection, something as close to 5G as possible. On a fundamental level, the connection is a basic need for finance, news, shopping, and the like. Perhaps more pertinent in the near short term is higher speeds’ potential to bring some physical life activity to the internet. As such, from the classically mundane virtual home tours to the blatantly sophisticated digital assisted surgery can be digitalized and be available online.

Gadgets

The gadgets that are internet-capable is a must to utilize the net. Smart TV, every smartphone, computer, tablet, glasses, and watch are among those gadgets that share a common connection but are different in what they can achieve while online. TV and watch-like devices are limited in scope mostly on the receiving end. Whereas computers and smartphones give the user a means to join in the creation online by accomplishing business tasks as well as content delivery. On a related note, technological innovation leads to a recently slowing but still incessant demand for upgrading previously owned devices.

Language

There’s a limit to the internet in your local language. Google Translate has other limits as well. It would be very challenging to overcome the digital divide without having English in your toolkit.

Money

To get these cornerstones, one needs financial resources. Assets could be a short-term solution but for the majority and for sustainability, income is the key. For income, there needs to be a business. For the business, the country should have a decent labor market that has demand for your labor.

Culture

Resolving the 4 other factors is not enough by itself. To make use of digital resources and especially how to make use of them is a cultural challenge. Read the New York Times online or create your newsfeed off Twitter and else? Post at Facebook or join a group at Discord? Buy crypto through DEFI or CEFI? Culture is a defining trait for crossing the divide and it is a crucial element in how one navigates once across.

Free-Photos / Pixabay

Who is Going to Do All This?

The economist Daron Acemoglu makes a tragic point in his recent presentations. He underlines that even though technology has seen unprecedented strides in the last 20 years, American total factor productivity is lower than the mid-20th century by a long shot and sustainably so. It kind of seems illogical when we enjoy so many benefits of this technological penetration of everyday life. While Daron Acemoglu does not get into the details of this, in a different slide he underlines worsening income equality observed by the escalating Gini coefficient. I think income inequality can be applied to the digital divide reality. In essence, while one part of the society benefits from the digital opportunities, some other parts of the population are left out almost permanently after a while. The average has a problem but the tail ends are horrible.

Professor Acemoglu draws a conclusion that avoids praising neither Chines style authoritarianism nor Trumpian populism. To the contrary, he underscores that the government can and should play an intelligent regulatory role that increases the potential of the country and enhances the set of options available to its citizens.

I totally agree.

The state can play a role in building a fast and robust internet backbone. It can support the manufacturing of cheaper devices and in the short term lower the cost of such items. The state can regulate to make English as a Secondary Language more available. It can provide Universal Basic Income. It can essentially make the playing field fairer and thus smoother. On matters of a culture where one’s immediate surroundings take precedence, the state should play a more toned role in favor of individual choices.

Where We are Headed

Today it is eccentric for us to have Artificial Intelligence create artwork and sell it. Perhaps you will not be needed to create tomorrow.

Jobs lost today are not coming back. This breaking a long line of creative destruction in favor of a diminishing workforce. One of the highest numbers of people employed globally in a profession is the drivers. So income the driverless cars and out goes most of the drivers? Will they become Cyber Security Experts en masse? Perhaps they can serve coffee at Starbucks? Yes but only if there was such demand. For the first time, technology and automation is destroying more jobs than we are able to create on the side.

The company in Riddley Scott’s first Alien movie is somewhat reminiscent of East India Company compiled with the source code of current big tech and rendered unto us. That company both commands the ship and also places the android Ash as a sleeper agent in charge of ensuring the alien lifeform is delivered to them at the expense of all else. Big tech is growing beyond the governments. To make matters even more volatile, many governments are turning more populist to counteract the disillusionment breeding from such developments.

Winners win even more. Those who make less money first borrow until their marginal return does not cover the debt repayments. Then they are “removed” from the game by the “market” forces.

We teach our kids that they are invaluable individuals. We hide the fact that neither the society would care that much for what they are nor value can be ascribed this way by a third party. We help to nurture them to be miserable in the faint consolation that there would be something else to blame.

A bit longer we do live. A bit more unemployed we do stay. A lot more anachronic and economically unviable we become..

Someday if there is a breakthrough in a fundamental field like energy that breaks down the labor mechanics of the day, such a system as today’s will not hesitate to attack the vestiges of equality that are propping up the civil society now.

Alien 1

Homo Homini Lupus

We are in an old Western. The gunslinger in black has his pistol pointed at the sheriff. The sheriff holds a rifle to the Chinese dry cleaner’s torso. He in return has his double guns on the lady who runs the saloon. She has the Derringer muzzle directly placed on the gunslinger.

Today, everyone is another’s wolf. Every state, every actor benign or malign, explicit or implicit is threatening the other(s) simultaneously. There is no friendly or peaceful resolution to this regime. Nobody would step back. Anyone who steps back would be shot or better removed from the game. Giving up some benefits of technology is not negotiable. It is tantamount to losing the game. Only if all actors change behavior at the same time, either by choice or by an external development, can the current global trends be changed? Otherwise, until a major conflict, stakes will be raised gradually and the inequality of the digital divide will be compounded.

Civilization will not fail this trend and it will not fail after these developments. It will just devolve uncannily into something even less likable. Certain areas will be walled off into de-facto prisons a la Escape from New York style and the opulent minority will head to a remote paradise in 3%’s style.

We may be holding on to an unrealistically tiny opportunity to realize the graveness of the situation and to take action. Such action should heal the divide, close the gap, and help develop solid common interests and a meaningful framework for each individual to live on at a minimum standard. With near impossible odds and only with intelligent state-level guidance backed with a popular will that will be echoed globally can we hope for positive change to remove the Digital Divide. Referring to the movies once again, if we do not succeed at it, then it is not T-1000 anymore but us who will hear the words hasta la vista, baby!

Terminator 2

This article has originally been prepared in Turkish for publication at BTCHaber in 2021. This English translation and the original Turkish form will be published on the Medium as well.

Also, Read

Get Best Software Deals Directly In Your Inbox

Technology
Society
Politics
Economy
Risk

--

--

Hulki Okan Tabak
Coinmonks

Written by Hulki Okan Tabak

Writer for

Investor, Strategist, Business Developer, Management Consultant, Writer & Photographer — hotabak@gmail.com

Help

Status

About

Careers

Press

Blog

Privacy

Terms

Text to speech

Teams