ON THE BRINK OF THE DIGITAL DIVIDE英.docx
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ON THE BRINK OF THE DIGITAL DIVIDE英.docx
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ONTHEBRINKOFTHEDIGITALDIVIDE英
Onthebrinkofthedigitaldivide
NoémiFiser
DepartmentofBusinessManagement,UniversityofMiskolc
3515Miskolc-Egyetemváros,Hungary
fisernoemi@citromail.hu
Fieldofresearch:
informationtechnologyinbusiness
Abstract:
InthispaperIconsiderthedigitaldivideandthedisparitiesincomputeruseandInternetaccessbetweencountrieswithintheEuropeanUnion.Iexaminethereasonsofthedigitalabyssandhownewinformationtechnologiesarechangingthenatureofwork.InparticularIlookathowthesetechnologiesaffectthewayworkersviewtheworkandthewayworkisorganizedandunionized.Finally,Ifocusongrowthininformationtechnologyandtheresultingglobalizationofproductionandexplorehowthisgrowthaffectspeople’swork,families,communitiesandsocieties.
1.TheuseofinformationtechnologyinHungaryandintheEuropeanUnion
Thedigitaldivideisamajorissueatanational,Europeanandworld-widelevel.Ironically,technologyhasalwaysbeenviewedasagreaterequalizer.TheInternetespeciallyhascreatedhighhopesforafutureoffreeinformation,wheretotalitariancontrolofspeechisimpossible,bordersareirrelevant,andeachcitizenparticipatesequallyintheglobal’conversation’.
ThedevelopmentoftheInternetinfactisseenashavingsuchastrongpotentionaltorevolutionizeworldculturethatithasbeenlikenedtotheinventionoftheprintingpress.ThismaybeanaptanalogyinsofarastheInternet,liketheprintingpress,hasrevolutionizedthespreadofinformation,makingitfaster,cheaper,and,theoreticallyatleast,availabletoeveryone.TheInternethasalsochangedthestakes.Asweallbecomemorereliantonthismarvelousnewinvention,asittransformsoursocietyandoureconomy,whathappenstothosepeoplewhohavenoabilitytoaccessit.Dotheybecomeasaresultoftheirinabilitytooperateacomputerorgoonlone,adisenfranchisedunderclassjustassurelyasiftheycouldnotreadorwrite.
(thousands)
Country
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
Austria
211
235
260
280
335
369
Belgium
246
285
313
342
361
240
Cyprus
101
121
173
199
224
276
CzechRepublic
82
97
107
122
136
177
Denmark
360
378
414
507
541
577
Estonia
96
113
135
160
183
210
Finland
312
350
360
396
425
442
France
194
233
268
305
329
347
Greece
45
52
57
76
85
82
Holland
283
326
362
397
432
467
Ireland
241
273
316
360
392
421
Poland
39
49
62
69
85
106
Latvia
40
61
82
143
152
172
Lithuania
34
54
59
65
70
110
Luxemburg
383
389
396
459
453
590
Hungary
58
65
74
87
100
108
Malta
134
159
185
210
230
255
Great-Britain
239
269
303
339
368
406
Germany
239
279
297
336
382
431
Italy
113
132
156
179
195
231
Portugal
73
80
82
105
117
134
Spain
97
109
121
146
169
196
Sweden
339
396
452
508
563
621
Slovakia
70
87
109
137
148
180
Slovenia
189
212
253
276
276
301
Table1.EstimatednumberofInternetusers
(KSH)
ComparingthenumbersinthetablewecanseethataccordingtothenumberoftheInternetusersthereisadigitaldividewithintheEuropeanUnion.Inmoderneconomies,accesstocomputers,theInternetandincreasinglybroadbandcommunicationsisseenasessentialforfutureprosperity.Consequently,lackofaccesscouldbeasignificantbrakeoneconomicgrowth.Onanationalbasis,incountriessuchastheUKwherepenetrationofcomputersandInternetusageishigh,provisionofaccesstobroadbandconnectionisimportantenoughtobeembodiedingovernmentpolicy.ThisviewisheldbymostWesternEuropeancountries,theEuropeanUnionandtheUnitedNations.WiththeenlargementoftheEU,theneedtoprovideequitableaccesstowhatisreferredtoastheInformationSocietyisseenasessential.
2.Determiningtheconceptofthedigitaldivide
Insimpleterms,itisthedividebetweenthosewhohaveaccesstocomputersandtheInternetandthosewhodonot.The“digitaldivide,”orthegapbetweentheabilityofprivilegedmembersofoursociety,andthatofhistoricallydisadvantagedmembers,toaccessandusetechnology(Ermann2003).
AfundamentalquestionmustbeaddressedbeforeonecanstatewhetherinequalitiesinICTaregrowingorclosing:
Istheinequalityalackofanexistingtechnology,orisitbecauseoftherelativegapbetween’haves’and’have-nots’,regardlessoftheparticulartechnology?
Onthewhole,currenttechnologiesarediffusingacrossnational,ethnic,gender,incomeandageboundaries,butnewtechnologiesarecausingnewdivisions.Adoptionofbroadbandaccesshasfollowedthesamepatternasthatofthecomputer-primarilyamongwealthy,whiteindividualsandlargecompanies.Sincethetechnologyisnewer(andmoreexpensive),itcurrentlyshowsanevenwidergaparoundtheworld.
3.Thecausesofthedigitaldivide
Thereareseveralreasonsofdevelopingofthedigitaldividefromtheinfrastructurethroughthelanguagetotheethnicity.Inthefollowingweexamineeachstepbystep.
3.1PhysicalICTaccessbetweencountries-ThenumberofPCs,amountofInternetbandwidthnumberoftelephonemainlines,mobilephones,andotherinformationtechnologyareslowlyrisingforallcountries,butthe"informationhave"countriesaregrowingfastest,thuswideningthedivisions.
3.2Pricing-ComputerandInternetaccesspricesaredecreasingaroundtheworld,puttingthesetechnologieswithinreachofincreasingnumbersofpeople.Nonetheless,withinOECDcountriesatleast,thelowestincomehouseholdsareincreasingtheircomputerandInternetlevelsfasterthanthehighestincomegroups-inpartsincehighincomegroupsalreadyhadhighpenetrationratesandlowerincomesgroupshadgreaterroomforincrease(OECD2001c).WilllowerpricesbeenoughforeveryoneindevelopingcountriestohaveaPCineveryhome?
Theanswer,unfortunately,isno.
3.3Nationalinfrastructure-Networkinfrastructureisslowlygrowingaroundtheworld,andinformation’have-nots’willgainincreasingbandwidthandtelephoneaccess.Butasnewtechnologiescomealong,especiallyinbroadbandinfrastructure,theywillremain’behindthecurve’andbeyearsbehindtheinformation’haves’.
3.4Internetusage-IntermsofInternetHosts,therelativegapisincreasing-thegapbetweenNorthAmericaandAfricawasamultipleof267in1997,byOctober2000itwas540(OECD2001b).TheentireAfricanContinenthas0.25%ofallInternetHosts,themajorityofwhichareinSouthAfrica,andtheoverallpercentageisdecreasing.(OECD2001b).Nonetheless,thetotalnumberofusersinallareasisincreasing.
3.5Englishlanguage-BecauseofthesheernumbersofnewpeoplestartingtousetheInternet,theUSwillloseitspredominanceonthebasicmetricsofnumberofusersandEnglishasthemajoritylanguage"CurrentpredictionsindicatethatInternetuserscouldexceedthe1billionmarkby2006,with700millionlocatedoutsideHowever,evenasthe"languagedivide"decreasesintermoftherelativenumberofnon-Englishwebsites,Englishisstillthelingua-francaofe-commerceandmostheavilyfundedresourcesontheNet.AstheNetdiversifies,thelanguageofthebusinesscommunityandrelatedwebsitescanbeexpectedtoreflecttheexistinguseoflanguageinnon-onlinegroups(withsomedelay),whichoftenexcludesnon-English(andespeciallynon-’majorlanguage’speakers).
3.6ICTsintheeconomy-WhileafewcountrieshavesuccessfullydevelopedlocalICTsectorsandcapturedasignificantportionofinternationalICTtrade,itseemsunlikelythatmanynewcountriescancompeteinthisarena.Nonetheless,technologiesspecificallytargetedforunderservedpopulationsholdgreatpromiseforeasingdivisionsinICTaccess.
3.7Divisionsbyeducation-IncountrieswithalreadyhighInternetaccessratesamongthehighlyeducated,thosewithlowereducationlevelsareincreasingICTusemorerapidlythanthosewiththehighestlevelsofeducation(whichhavehigherICTuse)-inpartbecausetheyaregrowingfromasmallerstartingpointNonetheless,agapremains,andmayreoccurwithnewtechnologies.IncountrieswhereInternetaccessisonlystartingtotakeoff,onecanexpectthatthosewithhighereducationwillusethetechnologyfirst,increasinglocaldivisions.
3.8Divisionsbyethnicity-IntheEUatleast,ethnicdifferencesintechnologyhavedecreasedsignificantly-butonlywhenincomeistakenintoaccount.Inotherwords,ethnicgroupsofthesameincomelevelhaverelativelythesameaverageusageoftechnology.
3.9Divisionsbygender-Thegenderdividewillsteadilydecrease,atleastintermsofusersoftheInternet.However,the’numberofusers’onlinestatisticisonlyasmallpartofthe’genderdivide’.MaleusersofinformationtechnologyatthecorporatelevelandITprofessionsarestillinthevastmajorityandreceivehigherpayforthesamejobs,andwilllikelyremainsoforsometimetocome.
3.10Rural-urbandivisions-Experiencetodatehasshownthatnewinformationtechnologiesareusuallyadoptedfirstincentralcities,andslowlydispersetoperipheralcitiesandruralareas.Thisappearstobebecauseofhigherinfrastructurecosts,loweraveragewages,andalowerlikelihoodofjobsinruralareasusingcomputers(OECD2001c).Incountrieswhereaparticulartechnologyhasrecentlyreachedthecapitalcities,divisionswithruralcanbeexpectedtogrowbeforetheysignificantlydisperse.Additionally,newtechnologiesshowgapingnewdivisions-asisoccurringwithbroadbandaccessinsomecountries.
3.11Age-Innewlyadoptingcountries,youngishgroupswillgetthetechnologyfirst,thedivideisthenexpected
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