Digital divide in the international political economy
By: Arthur Hall
Submitted: 2010-04-16 16:03:34 | Word Count: 426
The global digital divide between countries who have access to internet and those who don’t has been broadening. Various governments should over the necessary support that will enhance internet usage among citizens, customers and businesses. This environment should also assure citizens, customers and business. This environment should also assure its citizens of protection.
The small and medium enterprises should utilize the internet so as to have a competitive advantage so that employment opportunities can arise. With globalization the world is becoming a global village hence the internet should be utilized sufficiently to improve the performance of businesses.
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Special attention therefore should be given to small and medium enterprises (SMES). Most global economies greatly rely on small business enterprises and they offer many employment opportunities to citizens. Some parts of the world like Asia have a good assess to internet more especially in places like Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea, China also has got a high asses to internet, while other parts in Asia also have a low access to internet. India is also known to have less assess to the internet. Some countries like United States of America, Canada and European countries are dominant and market Leaders in matters related with technological advancements.
There is a good relationship between economics, technology, poverty level, employment growth, government policies and social factors. Language is a key factor; countries with good competence in English have a good access to internet. There is exchange of ideas between these countries which use English as the language of communication. It is easy to get access to international internet for English speaking countries because many people speak English world wide.
Global digital divide:
Some people have taken advantage of the availability of digital resources and they have exploited them, by going around information and communication technology (ICT). Others have been isolated and denied the benefits associated with digital technology and the benefits of the modern economy.
Generally the world can be divided regionally or by country into digital ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’. Research has also shown that there is a broadening digital divide, between countries and within countries.
Historic background:
Internet users by region:
Digital decide is well illustrated by Asian countries with countries like Japan, Korea and Hong Kong being among the top 12 countries worldwide, with Taiwan taking position 19, and china (100). Many people in this countries rely on the internet greatly, and its shown that only a small portion of the people are online.
