Causes of the Divide

  There have been many explanations put forward to show the causes of the divide, both divides within the developed world on a national level, and divides within the less developed countries, on a global level . Socio-economic factors play a big part in the divide, for example people on low incomes/jobless are less likely to have all the equipment, as ICT is expensice and rental charges and fees for the connections can be costly. Also disadvantaged may be the unskilled, disabled, elderly and the young.
  The service providers are national companies, therefore based on profit, and are more likely to target high income households, where they have the money to buy more content and services. This also relates to the area you live in, as the service providers like to build the infastructure needed to run their services in built up, urban areas, where the population is higher. This leaves people in rural areas more disadvantaged, as they may have no connection to any ICT.
  Another factor which contributes to causes of the divide are the amount of ICT skills someone has, low skills means that individuals are restricted to the amount they can access/achieve, which may be useful to them. Many who have had no training, or not grown up with technology being a centre of their learning/communication may have problems adapting, for example the elderly. These people may be highly trained in education and good basic skills may feel unskilled and therefore refuse to use it. Basic knowledge and skills may also influence wether someone uses ICT; a lack of basic numeracy and literacy skills may lead to a lack of confidence, therefore unwilling to try anything new, and some groups may not want to expose any gaps they may have, confidence or knowledge, in front of a mixed audience.
  There may be general problems which are not researched as in depth as other explanations. For example in community ICT areas there may be barriers, such as no transport, no adequate creche facilities for lone parents, and may not be accessible for those with disabilities.
  Many argue that within the developed world there is not much of a divide, and its actually more down to the individual choosing to have no access. There are now many locations where programmes have been put in place for access to ICT, for little or no cost, but some choose not to take advantage of this, and therefore disadvantage themselves voluntarily. This however, could link to the lack of relevence that technology has for some people, even in todays society, such as the elderly. It may be seen as irrelevent for many reasons; if the words used are very complicated, then this will disadvantage the less literate, if content is mainly aimed at one area of society, such as white middle class, then large groups will disengage. Many areas of technology have advanced dramatically over the last 10 years, bringing with it a large range of cultural and language diversity,such as TV, however this is not so much with the computing and internet market. If the content is irrelevent to the individual, this can be seen as a contributing factor to the digital divide.
   Funding can be an issue with giving all areas access to ICT, government (local & national), charities, local businesses and other organisations all fund projects directly and indirectly. The funding can often be hard to obtain and difficult to secure, and often has a time limit, which can mean that true value for money is not always obtained even where the projects precise aims are met. Particularly in education the digital divide has tried to be reduced, with a variety of different projects and millions of pounds being spent in the UK alone. Much of this money has been put into improving the systems and software in schools, thought to have been put in place to enhance learning, although many argue this is not the case and does not make up for the amount of money spent, relying more on how the teacher intergrates ICT into lessons, rather than the technology alone.
  This shows us that is it not just one factor which contributes to being on one side of the divide, it is multiple factors, which are trying to be reduced by introducing new initiatives all the time.