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The main obstacles that present themselves under physical access are lack of robust telecommunications with adequate reliable bandwidth for Internet connections. At present, there are no quick or easy solutions to the problem of the digital divide, either between or within nations. The proletariat classes in both rich and poor nations have to little cash or assets to attract the sustained attention of multi-national computer and telecom giants due to profit capabilities present in higher bandwidth and new technologies (Cullen, 2003). However within the UN, government and commercial sanctums there are numerous reports such as the one tabled to ECOSOC that outline a range of solutions, some of the specifically addressing the barriers to Internet use caused by weak infrastructure and lack of suitable terminal equipment.
These reports also recognise the difficulties caused by attitudinal barriers that tend to inflict damaging personas such as gender issues that can cause disparities between males and females and their engagement with ICT (Law, 2004). There are also wide held beliefs surrounding the volatile and unsafe nature of personal computers both in relation to the content and infrastructure. Such barriers can be cultural based. Such barriers may apply to the lowest socioeconomic groups of developed nations, to strongly networked cultural minorities, indigenous groups emerging from an oral culture, and non-literate rural communities throughout the world (Cullen, 2003).
These factors combined with lack of physical access to ICTs, lack of IT skills and support have led to increased pressure to initiate collaborative efforts between governments, donor organisations and NGO’s to facilitate a more effective transfer of knowledge from the rich Northern Hemisphere to the south (Wallsten, 2005) This significant increase in the number of scientific and research publications appearing on the Internet is subsequently benefiting more those people in the south who are beginning to be exposed to new and alterative technologies aimed at improving living standards. It is also noted that lack of physical telecommunications infrastructure is not the key problem in many parts of the developing world where mobile technology is already well established. case study A more intractable issue is the fact that 98 percent of Internet protocol bandwidth globally connects to and from North America. This monopolisation of Internet traffic by US requires foreign exchange payments to be made by in prohibitively high US dollars, which developing countries can barely afford (Wallsten, 2005). Careful renegotiation of existing global telecommunications agreements and a restructuring of the World Wide Web, a difficult task when the Web has no formal governance structure, will be needed to address these issues.
At the country level, one of the most vital breakthroughs has been achieved through a paradigm shift away from the concept of individual connectivity to community connectivity contrary to popular sentiment that reinforces the need for domestic access to ensure maximum advantage of the technology. However, it has to be understood that for much of the world individual connectivity is simply unattainable and unrealistic when considering the resources available in developing countries (Cullen, 2003) LINCOS case study
Examining these concepts being offered, it becomes apparent that unless usage of community centres is sufficiently high and the products offered a worth consumers paying a commercial fee, it may be a case of being back at square one where those with the most need can least afford to pay (James, 2001). The best solution posited by academics has been to induce deregulation therefore creating a competitive environment motivated towards capturing the market in rural and agriculturally based nations. But competition alone will not resolve this question; legislation, pressure and some subsidy may be necessary and rural communities are already exploring building their own telecommunications networks to get around the problem. Overall, the introduction of Telecommunications Service Obligations, whereby social objectives can be mandated for performance by telecommunications providers combined with increasing government pressure on these corporate organisations may be the best chance at attaining universal service to remote users (James, 2001).
Wikipedia - The Digital Divide
Articles on computers and security
1.Cullen, R. (2003). "The Digital Divide; A Global and National Call to Action," The Electronic Library. Oxford. Vol 21, Iss 3 pp.247-258
2.James, E. (2001). “Learning to bridge the digital divide,�? The Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Observer Iss. 224, pp.43-45.
3.Law, D. (2004) “Bridging the digital divide: a review of current progress,�? Library Management vol.. 25, Iss. ½, pp. 17-21
4.Wallsten, S.(2005). "Regulation and Internet Use In Developing Countries," Economic Development & Cultural Change, Vol. 53 Iss 2, pp.501-524
--Dane C Allen 11:21, 28 Oct 2005 (EST)
