Digital divide
The digital divide refers to the significant gap between individuals and communities who have access to information and communication technology (ICT) and those who do not. This divide manifests both globally, between countries, and locally, within nations, often influenced by economic status, education, location, age, and racial or ethnic backgrounds. The initial framework for understanding the digital divide highlighted the "haves" and "have-nots" in terms of access to technology. However, the definition has evolved to encompass disparities in ICT skills and usage. The lack of access to affordable technology and infrastructure plays a crucial role in perpetuating these inequalities, with data indicating that certain demographic groups, particularly in the United States, face significant barriers to technology access.
The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the urgency of addressing the digital divide, especially as many institutions shifted to remote operations, further disadvantaging those without reliable internet access. Although some improvements were noted during this period, racial and socioeconomic disparities in access persisted. In response to these challenges, governments have begun to invest in expanding broadband access, aiming for more equitable access to technology. Overall, the digital divide highlights a complex landscape of inequity, emphasizing the need for targeted efforts to bridge these gaps to ensure that all individuals can fully participate in the increasingly digitized world.
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Digital divide
The advent of information and communication technology (ICT), including a range of digital devices that allow connection to the Internet, has changed the way people communicate, interact, learn, produce, and circulate information. While ICTs have been lauded for their potential to democratize access to information, a serious gap exists in access to and use of ICTs. This gap is often referred to as the digital divide. The digital divide surfaces between countries based on economic and technological infrastructure. It also emerges within a country, between individuals who differ in terms of social class, education, location (urban or rural), age, and racial and ethnic backgrounds. Over time, the definition of the digital divide has expanded to include access to skill development, as well as access and use of ICTs. As internet use increased worldwide during the first two decades of the twenty-first century and became a key part of daily life in many countries, the digital divide persisted in many countries.
Overview
Initially, the digital divide was defined as the gap between those with access to ICTs, the “haves,” and those without access, the “have-nots.” The absence of or limited access to affordable ICT infrastructure and services is viewed as a contributing factor to the growing digital divide between and within countries. Within countries, differences in income, education, location, age, and race and ethnicity are factors that differentiate ICT and Internet use. For example, in the United States, children and youth from American Indian, Latino, and African American backgrounds have significantly lower access to technology than children and youth from White and Asian American backgrounds; residents in rural areas less likely to have access to computers in their households; and there is a generational gap between young people, who have had access to and experience with ICTs, and older adults, for whom opportunities to access and learn with ICTs has been limited. The factors that appear to be most significant for higher levels of access and use, however, are higher levels of income and education. These gaps had become apparent by the early 2010s and largely continued into the 2020s. According to the Pew Charitable Trusts in 2024, about 24 million Americans lacked fast internet connections.
The digital divide identifies a new landscape of inequity. People who do not have access to ICTs early in life and/or frequently, particularly access to the internet, are at a disadvantage. They will have limited access to information, including media reports, medical information, and opportunities to learn, as well as limited access to current methods of communication. Cost, inadequate computer skills, and lack of interest are some factors relating to people’s disconnection from the Internet. In response, scholars are studying a second kind of divide that includes differences in ICT skills and skill development as attributes of a widening digital gap.
Access to, use of, and skills for engaging with ICTs are not developing equally across groups, communities, and countries. A lack of availability, access, and experience with ICTs, along with the thinking and practical skills that develop as a result, is hampered by insufficient public services and scarcity in technology resources. Educational environments are positioned to either: (1) contribute to the divide, for example, when educators lack preparation and support to teach with ICTs; or (2) enable children and youth to overcome it, for example, when the use of ICTs is integrated throughout classroom practices as a method for both teaching and learning. Educational policies and practices are changing in ways that support the effective use of ICTs in classrooms and enable students to benefit from, and grow with, the digitized world. However, until availability, access, and skills are made equally available to everyone, inside and outside of schools, the digital divide is likely to persist.
The digital divide attracted renewed attention starting in early 2020 as many schools, businesses, and other institutions shut down or switched to operating remotely as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in the realm of education. While the sudden switch to e-learning, or remote learning, created challenges for all students, students with zero or limited access to ICTs faced particularly severe setbacks. During the pandemic many schools and communities were able to take steps to improve student access to ICTs, with the rate of US households with limited digital access falling from 42 to 31 percent between March and December 2020. However, some data noted the persistence of racial disparities in the US digital divide, with Black and Latino households being 1.3 to 1.4 times as likely as White households to experience limited ICT access, according to a study conducted by the University of California Los Angeles. Students from low-income households were also more likely to have limited computer or internet access.
The digitization of many aspects of daily life, along with the increasing adoption of remote work by many companies, also contributed to calls for government agencies in the US and other countries to invest in expanding internet access to rural areas and other communities that lagged behind in internet access. In response, some governments took steps to lessen the digital divide. For example, in June 2023 the administration of US president Joe Biden allocated $42 billion, divided up among the country's states and territories, for investment in broadband infrastructure, with the stated goal of providing universal high-speed internet access in the US by 2030.
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