Digging into the digital divide

The 2016 McKinsey report on Digital Globalization reports that “six billion people do not have high-speed broadband, almost four billion do not have any Internet access at all, and nearly two billion do not have a mobile phone” (p. 39). It also points out that as many as 1.2 billion people still lacked electricity in 2013. These figures are quite stark, and illustrate how the digital divide continues to hinder universal progress towards a digitised world.

In my blog posts I will explore the effects of the digital divide, the various ways in which it is seen around the world, and how it can be contextualised. I previously wrote a paper about the digital divide in 2014, and I’m interested to see what has changed in the past two years. It’s possible that my lefty-liberal bubble has amplified the talk of growing inequality, both domestically and internationally, and I look forward to reviewing the evidence.

The digital divide is not simply a question of whether or not someone has access to the Internet. This is clearly set out by Hilbert in his recently published article about using bandwidth as a measure of the digital divide.* He refers to a ‘second level’ of divide, which assumes that access may be less useful as an indicator given the ubiquity of technology (although given the figures quoted above, he may be overly optimistic here). Hilbert sets up the framework for measuring the divide using bandwidth as a measure, although his methodology is still being developed.

When discussing the digital divide, the view can broaden or shrink depending on the area of interest. I hope to split my focus depending on the topic for the week. You can take a very ‘big picture’ view and look at the divide in terms of nations. Some countries have much higher rates of internet access and use, and large proportions of their population have a range of technological (and social) advantages, while other countries have much lower digital access rates. This has implications for which countries are chosen by companies for expansion opportunities, and also as potential markets for new products and services.

The other more localised view of the divide is within a particular society. In New Zealand, we are hearing reports of ever-increasing inequality, with the gap between ‘rich’ and ‘poor’ seemingly increasing. This means that even for a ‘developed’ country such as ours, the opportunity to access new goods and services may vary.

They trust each other less, and they care about each other less and so they’re less likely to extend a helping hand and feel like they’ve got something in common with everyone else (source)

And remember, as Hilbert points out, the digital divide isn’t just about access to the internet. You may have a cheap smart phone, but if you can’t afford the (still IMO relatively high) rates for data, or your phone can’t connect to the newer 4G networks, you can’t necessarily take advantage of location-specific apps and offers the way people with a steadier and higher income can. If you’re a teenager living in a crowded house, with way more people than bedrooms, you may have internet access, but your download speeds are slower, and you can’t necessarily stream the latest Lorde music video with the same quality and low latency that your classmates can.

There’s one final point that I may dig into a bit further in future weeks, and that’s the question of whether technology is even the answer. A WSJ article published last year highlights this nicely:

The problem: “game changing” technologies cannot do their magic if the players and the playing fields remain the same. There is usually no shortcut to building the government, educational, cultural and economic structures needed to improve people’s lives.

I sometimes wonder if those of us who work in technology think that everything boils down to better, faster, and shinier toys. If only those people had a smart phone or tablet, they’d be able to connect to (for example) MSD and get their benefit problems solved! Just this week, my mother emailed me asking if an email she’d gotten about ‘MyMSD’ was legitimate (it apparently is). I’m sure for some WINZ clients that portal will be very useful — but will it actually get to the bottom of some of the systemic issues? I’m not convinced. (I dare you to listen to the audio in the first of those two links and not feel like something needs to be done….).

Anyway I’ll get down off my soapbox and keep an eye out for your comments. I’m interested what people think about the digital divide, both globally and in NZ. And that sideline of whether technology is the answer is one that lingers…

*there is some irony in a post talking about inequalities of access linking to a journal article that only people who have a subscription, or who are willing to pay, can access…