Is the digital divide influenced by the state of poverty?

THE discussion of how to bring the opportunities offered by the Information Technology (IT) to the people who need them most has been muddled by arguments over exactly how to define the problem of the IT in societies. Is it about insufficient access to computers, training, or poverty? The existence of the “Digital Divide” in most African societies, or the lack of access to the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for certain segments of the population within African region, is evidence of the ability of technology to exacerbate the existing inequality. The digital divide is a term used to describe the discrepancy between people who have access to and the resources to use new information and communication tools such as the computer and internet, and people who do not have the resources and access to the technology. The term also describes the discrepancy between those who have the skills, knowledge and abilities to use the technologies and those who do not have. It can exist between those living in rural communities as well as those in urban centers. There are many perspectives on the digital divide with different connotations and focus, some argue that computers, connections and training will solve the problem, while others contend that government action hinders the development and use of ICTs, and unless policies are changed otherwise the digital divide cannot be solved. But many people who overlook at the problem do not understand how the use of ICTs can be relevant to their lives. Underlying social issues like basic literacy, poverty and healthcare also loom large, and some questions whether and how technology can become part of the solution to these critical problems. In fact, the digital divide is about all of these things. It is a complex problem that manifests itself in different ways in different countries, and it represents both practical and policy challenges.
Moreover, it is apparent that solutions that work in the developed countries cannot simply be transplanted to developing countries’ environments. Solutions must be based on an understanding of local needs and conditions. Historically, the disadvantaged individuals in communities demonstrates the potential of the IT to serve as a tool of social change, and at the same time it can bring education and promote organizing efforts to attain technological development required in such communities. In short, the diffusion of technology both within and between countries has been extremely uneven as the digital technologies becomes firmly embedded in everyday affairs, they can help all societies to solve long standing economic and social problems, but they also bring new challenges.
The challenges are to those denied access to ICT skills and consequently their knowledge becomes less and less capable of participating in an economy in which the communities are increasingly technologically dependent in order to improve their lives. The Digital Divide represents a major challenge at all levels, and in spite of this, what should the governments do to ensure that the new technologies emerging in communities do not consign some people to the margins of society from which few individuals benefit from the wealth of new opportunities that the digitally rich enjoy? While information technology is growing rapidly, some segments of society remain largely disconnected from this trend. The term digital divide has been associated with the patterns of unequal access in terms of income, race, ethnicity, gender and age. Statistics shows that, computer ownership and internet access, use of cellular phones as new media facilities, are lower among certain groups of the population primarily due to poverty. In certain categories, the digital divide has been influenced by poverty within communities especially in rural areas. Africa, the most stricken poverty region in the world is largely affected by this trend and it continues to lag behind the western nations in terms of development for many reasons including lack of knowledge and poor skills on information technology. Researches have been restricted to the problem of access to technology, but having access to a computer, the major component used to drive the information technology in the world, is insufficient of individuals lack of skills who are eager to take advantage of the technology. To illustrate a significant separation between information “haves” and information “have-nots”, the long line of social and economic status, living on the wrong side of the digital divide as do the poor, means being cut off from the information society.
But the technology gap is only one link in a casual chain that has bound certain groups repeatedly to disadvantage. The digital divide is therefore a symptom of a much larger and more complex problem of persistent poverty and inequality. The digital divide is now recognized as an international issue which has deteriorated the development of the poor who are not able to afford the knowledge use of the ICT components which are vital for poverty reduction. Africa, especially south of Sahara region is greatly affected by the digital divide due to poverty that is so prevalent in most rural communities and more help is needed including donor funding in order to bridge the gap between its people and the rest of the world.
The role of ICT in rural communities has a significant impact that provides immense opportunities to promote and foster social, economic, education, cultural and political development. Various studies shows that only ICTs are tools that will help leapfrog the development divide and accelerate efforts to combat poverty, hunger, disease and illiteracy in a bid to meet the Millennium Development Goals.

According to Dr. Lishan Adam, a researcher at the Addis Ababa University College in Ethiopia, in his published report entitled “Financing ICTs for Development” with focus on poverty, a report he issued four years ago, progress and issues in Sub-Saharan region, between US$ 400 and 600 is needed annually to eradicate poverty through the application of ICTs. According to him, Sub-Saharan Africa region is the latest developed region when it comes to ICT, a report with a distressing statistics shows that, penetration varies considerably with broadcasting technology more diffused than personal computers and the internet. In his report, the digital development shows that, out of 814 million people in Africa, in 2003 it is estimated that 1 person in 4 had a radio, 1 in 12 had a TV, 1 in 33 had a fixed telephone line, 1 in 16 had a mobile phone, 1 in 80 had access to PC, 1 in 70 had access to the internet, and 1 in 360 had access to pay TV. This shows that the gap of digital divide is still large in Africa. Since the 1990s, years of economic liberalization in Tanzania, there has been a large wave of investment in ICTs for development and some significant part of this has been aimed at poor people both in terms of bridging ICT access to poor and using it in many other ways which it could support poverty reduction strategies. The study carried out by Professor Ophelia Mascarenhas of the University of Dar es Salaam on the impact of ICTs on rural livelihood and poverty reduction in three districts in Tanzania helps to accelerate poverty reduction strategies with specific examples in every sphere of human life. The study was therefore mounted to see to what extent the ICTs had in fact speeded to the rural areas and to what extent they contributed to the socio-economic development of the rural people.

According to him, the better understanding on the relationship between the use of ICTs and poverty reduction can then be used to make the use of ICTs an important part of the national strategy for growth and reduction of poverty. It has remained rather compelling.
He says the main indicators such as infant and maternal mortality, access and school performances are worse off in rural areas. Lack of electricity is still a problem but almost half the rural population owns radios. The life of the people living in African rural communities will continue to deteriorate if governments and its people will not adopt the means by which it can bridge the digital divide and allows ICTs tools to twist the modern technology transfer in their workings. Despite of their expensiveness in use, ICT can play a pivotal role in reducing abject poverty for the marginalized group in rural communities. Since ICTs are tools used for technological advancements, therefore they are vital for country’s economic development for their role in a society is to facilitate communication in an information society. ICTs will always be a bridge too far if the issue is as basic as not having electricity in the home, and incase the question of poverty is not resolved, women’s empowerment in the digital age will never happen despite of their efforts towards national development. Lack of access to ICTs is an microcosm of existing gender relations in society. Women who are low income or living in poverty have a desperate need for information and contacts that can assist and support their efforts to build their way out of poverty. They need to be ensured with easy, safe and affordable access to ICT. To effectively ensure digital empowerment for women, efforts must be made to increase their number in studying IT related subjects to ward off the basic premise of the gender digital divide. Community technology centres (CTCs) known as the Tele-centres in most other countries have emerged at an increasing pace in the last several years to deal with the digital divide. These are non-profit organizations that link community residents to IT resources. They address the digital divide comprehensively and advance larger social, political and economic goals in the process. But poor infrastructure is part of the reason to global ICT and continental private developments. Africa being the most hit region, and since its infrastructure does not meet international standards hence it’s difficult to bridge the digital divide.