The Problem And Proposed Solutions

The digital Divide debate spread overes homecomings that atomic number 18 of social, scotchal and political import. Meaning to say, the come ons regarding the digital portion out, as a phenomenon and as a dependable concern that needs to be extensi whizzd, is not merely limited to the issue of the live disparity in footing of ad ignoreion charge to applied science which transverses different sectors of fiat. This paper attempts to phrase the digital give, the debate and the foundational issues concerning the phenomenon/problem.In line with the main task of this paper is the identification of the deuce most weighty obstacles that need to be overcome and the ii important things that the politics needs to create in relations with the digital carve up. In meeting the demands of a global economy, expert advancements especially in the field of telecommunications and information applied science ar key factors in fashioning clobberable various transactions faster, cheaper, more(prenominal) reliable and convenient. Needless to say, these technological advances be important tools if companies and other business ventures argon to proceed in the digital economy.These technological advancements however, are evolving far too fast which therefore generate pressing problems that ought to be considered. On a preliminary note, the aforementioned speedy technological evolution poses serious questions if our societal structures puke rapidly adapt to these changes and more importantly, if we, ourselves can rapidly adapt and be able to integrate for ourselves these changes. A dandy example is the mesh and the online partnership and it is to this offspring that we shall now turn.A fuller understanding of the digital divide phenomenon necessitates an understanding of its underpinnings. As Pippa Norris contends, the digital divide is understood as a multidimensional phenomenon encompassing three unambiguous aspects (Norris). These three distinct a spects according to Norris are the global divide, social divide and pop divide, respectively. Norris elucidates further, The global divide refers to divergence of Internet addition amongst industrialized and growth societies.The social divide concerns the gap between the information rich and poor in for each one nation. And lastly, within the online community, the democratic divide signifies the difference between those who do, and do not, routine the panoply of digital resources to engage, mobilize and participate in public life (Norris). One whitethorn thence infer that these three aspects colligate to the issue of overture to the Internet film not mere social, and besides economic and political considerations.In an article entitled, What is the digital Divide, Harouna Ba makes a similar blot as Norris. Ba writes, overleap of portal to networked technology forget result in a substantial segment of ships company having neither the skills nor the elbow room to par ticipate in the progressively more knowledge- base U. S. economy (Ba). As Ba contends, there is a matt-up need to scream the issue of plan of attack along with the social, economic and political considerations that it entails. At this point, the emphasis is on what Norris calls disadvantaged communities.As mentioned earlier, these communities lack not merely entranceway but also and more importantly, the infallible skills and the means to participate in the digital world. Ba identifies a number of obstacles in dealing with the digital divide phenomenon/problem. But, as I reckon it, in relation to the issue of access, the two most important obstacles in dealing with the digital divide are the issues of the disadvantaged communities not having the skills that are necessary and their lack of the means that are necessary.These two are barriers to technological access. One whitethorn thus infer that the issue of access only becomes a legitimate issue because of these two obstacles. Again, it is not merely a consider of providing the communities with a greater access to computers and the Internet by lowering the damage of the hardware and bundle that hardware and software companies manufacture and sell in the food market nor is it merely a matter of increase the ratio of computers to students in our schools and other institutions of learning.This will not solve the digital divide. The resolving power to the problem lies on our capability to the address the needs of the disadvantaged communities. There is a need for intervention, so to speak. The organization has a significant role in addressing these needs. However, the administrations intervention will not suffice. There is a need for a multi-sectoral cooperation in addressing the needs of disadvantaged communities. A crucial question comes into the scenario. What needs to be do?As Ba sees it, what is required is to develop community-based technology programs that will arrest the needs of disadvanta ged communities. Ba writes, participation technology access models are lots grounded on community needs and encompass multiple goals to strengthen neighborhoods, educate youth, crowd economic development, connect individuals to the social and economic life of the community, and increase participation in civil society (Ba). It is of utmost brilliance that we first assess the needs of the community so that we may provide the get solutions.Furthermore, it is important that technology programs be based on the needs of disadvantaged communities so that these communities themselves may have the opportunity to unwrap and thereby, integrate what the vital functions of technology are to them and the opportunities that it can provide for them. Such an integrating entails that a disadvantaged community sees the relevance of technology in their lives. It may thus be inferred that for Ba, the digital divide may be addressed by state empowerment.Our concerted efforts must be order to em powering the disadvantaged sectors of society. How can this be done? People empowerment is made realistic through community education. As Ba contends, there is a lot of work to be done especially in the areas of learning and teaching with and/or rough advanced technologies in informal settings for under-served communities (Ba). This is one of the main reason why government initiatives and interventions in the past only had a limited supremacy in dealing with the digital divide phenomenon.There indeed are initiatives and interventions but they do not address the problem. They miss the point, so to speak. As Ba notes, state governments attempt to address the digital divide via two government agencies the creation Utility Commission (PUC) and the Department of Education. The PUC by appealing to telecommunication companies and the likes for universal avail and the Department of Education by making feed for computers in school for those students that do not have access to a compute r and the Internet at home.These attempts miss the point because they have been made on the unfounded assumption that the digital divide issue is merely an issue of access and thus, can be solved by making computers and the Internet more affectionate to individuals. But what can these initiatives and interventions accomplish if in the first place, the problem is that individuals from disadvantaged sectors of society lack the necessary skills and the means to be able to access and thereby, utilize technology? The plain truth of the matter is that technology evolves much faster than society can adapt to it.Furthermore, why limit the provisions with the students? Why not youth in general? Why exclude out-of-school youth? This merely shows that the limited success of state initiatives and interventions may be explained by the fact that their assumption is unfounded and that their digital divide programs are not grounded on community needs and thus, ineffective. The digital divide pheno menon/problem is not merely a problem of access. The preceding discussion makes it sporty that it is not a mere matter of identifying the have from the have not.Even this bank bill is grounded on further distinctions in terms of the social, economic and the political. These further distinctions albeit different from each other, are very closely co-ordinated that they all affect changes in the others. human race society is complex. It is not simply a social brass. It is also a political system and every political system is also an economic system. The human question too is complex. There are unnumbered possibilities in terms of scientific and technological advancements. Science and technology evolves too fast.In stemma to science and technology, our societal structures and institutions do not. They do not because there are some other significant things to consider. Perhaps, this is the predicament of our time. works Cited Ba, Harouna. What Is Digital Divide. August 20 2007. . Norris, Pippa. Digital Divide Civic Engagement, teaching Poverty, and the Internet Worldwide (Communication, Society and Politics). Cambridge Cambridge University Press, 2001.