The term 'digital divide' emerged in the mid-1990s (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2004) to describe the gap between those who have 'ever' and those who have 'never' used a computer or the internet. It is also used to describe a marked gap in access to or use of ICT devices measured by, for example, the number of phone lines per inhabitant, or the number of Internet users, or of mobile phones in the population (Campbell, 2001). A distinction is commonly made between a digital divide within a country and one between countries. An example of the former is the divide that usually exists between young and old, male and female, the more and the less educated, the more and the less wealthy, and urban and rural locations. In general, the digital divide refers to that between industrialized and developing countries. This term evolves over
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Digital divide within a country often relates directly to socio-economic inequalities (Moss, 2002). In the United States, for example, sections of the population who are disadvantages across a range of important indices such as education are also typically disadvantaged in digital terms as well. Other aspects that determine access includes geographic location. Those living in metropolitan areas often have better access than those living in rural areas.
Inequalities between digital users are more prominent beyond the national context (Moss, 2002). Although 429 million of the world’s population are online, it represents only 6 percent of the world’s total population. Furthermore, of all the people who are online, 68 percent of them are from North America and Europe, compared to just 4 percent coming from South America.
The most pertinent cause for international digital divide is due to deficits in economic development (Moss, 2002). Other causes include the democratic openness of a country. Countries such as China, which limits access and content to the internet for its citizen, will widen the digital divide.
--Philips young 12:45, 28 Oct 2005 (EST)
