Digital divide
The digital divide is a term which is used to describe the difference between those who have the access to the information technology this involves mobile phones, internet, computers and television and those who do not have access to these services. The expression can also represent those who have the skills and expertise to use different types of technology. The digital divide can exist between those who are living in rural areas and those who are living in urban areas. Factors that can contribute to the digital divide are economic factor, geographical factor, and fear of technology.
One of the factors that contribute to the digital divide is fear of technology as many people do not use technology due to them having less confident about their ability to use computer skills. Due to the lack of confidence in which some people may show this will create digital divide between technology and themselves this means that they will find it harder to access the internet. As well as being able to find jobs. Another aspect that will result in a fear of technology is due to people fearing that others around them will laugh at them which mean that a person will have a low self esteem when trying to use technology. Furthermore factor that it’s the main issue that why people fear technology is due to people being scared of hackers and computer fraud. Overall a fear in technology will result in digital divide due to people not using technology which will mean that they will be limited in terms of resources. According to ONS figures ‘’ 99% of those aged 16-24 have used the internet, dropping to just 40% of those aged 65 or over. This shows that the elderly fear technology as only 40 percent of adults in the UK use the internet this, show the digital divide as the elderly use technology less compared to teenagers.
The second factor that contributes towards the digital divide is a geographical factor as the availability of the internet across the world shows a larger difference across the world. This can be assessed due to some countries having a lack of internet access. This can result in a digital divide as some countries are at disadvantages than others which mean that communication between countries will be a problem which will result in trade being an issue.
This graph shows the amount of internet users between various continents .the graph shows that Asia has the highest internet users in the world. This is due countries in Asia specialising in technology. The graph also shows the digital divide as the Middle East and Australasia countries have the least amount of internet users.

Further reason in which geographical factor results in the digital divide is due some areas that people live in does not provide internet access to people. Some areas in the United Kingdom do not have internet access which means that people will not benefit from online services.
This graph shows how geographical factor has created a digital divide between countries. The graph shows the least’s developed countries are being affected as they are least connected to the internet.

A further factor that contributes to the digital divide is economic factors this is the main reason in which individuals and organisations do not have access to the internet. This is due to countries unable to provided intent access due to lack of money this manly affects the developing countries as they struggle to provided sufficient telephone lines. One of the reason in which developing countries are at a disadvantage is due to software’s and hardware being too expensive in developing countries. The economic status of a country will result in the country being limited knowledge due to computers not being available. In addition economic policies creates digital divide an example of this is north Korea’s economic policy as the country introduced the black market system which prevented the people of north Korea from having internet access. The picture below shows examples of how then economic recession has widened the digital divide.’ one in four people within the United Kingdom do not use the internet. ’This shows that due to the recession in 2008 the digital divide in the UK is increasing this is due to economic factors which affected the digital divide.
Online centre foundation is an organisation which tries to reduce digital divide by setting up programmes such as ‘get online week’ the organisations mean aim is to get approximately 8 million people in the UK who never used the internet to use the internet. The organisation believes that by doing so they will benefit from this experience as it will ’help make their lives bigger and better’. The online centre foundation targeted those people who are over the age of 65 to encourage them to use online internet and this helps reduce the digital divide at a local level due to the fact that adults are able to gain knowledge on how to use the internet effectively. Furthermore in north Yorkshire council and organisation have worked together which lead to establishing the ‘‘making of it personnel’’ this is getting people together within the community and sharing the IT skills to help one and another this reduces the digital divide as people are able to gain the knowledge and skill on how to databases and the internet. close the gap is an international organisation which helps to tackle technological problems that create the digital divide in the developing countries in order to reduce the digital divide the organisation is offering high quality technology used It facilities to developing counties in order for them to use it for projects such as education programmes such as hospitals and schools which help the developing countries. As a result of close the gap organisation the digital divide is decreasing as more people in the developing countries have access to the internet. Examples of close the gap achievement are that it installed the first Rambo Bank computers in Tanzanian this highlights that the digital divide is reducing due to the fact that third world nations having access to the internet.
Go on UK is a UK organisation that aims to make the UK the most digitally capable nation in the world they way in which they do this is by making sure that everyone has a basic online skills in order to decrease the digital divide .according to go on the uk’’16 million people age 16 do not have basic online services’ ‘this is a massive challenge for the organisation as these teenagers are being affected by the digital divide especially when most jobs in the UK by 2015 expect a basic online skills. Go on UK is reducing the digital divide by ensuring that everyone has a basic online services by doing so they organisation expects to reduce the amount of teenager in the UK that don’t not have a basic online services.
The impact of the digital divide
The digital divide has sustainable impact on human beings as the digital divide changes our social, economical, as well as some aspect of culture. As a result of the digital divide on these three areas government across the world have to introduce measures in order to deal with these areas on a daily bases.
The social consequences of the digital divide are sustainable as the internet nowadays from the basis from hospital records to police files and communication and socialising. As a result of the digital divide the police force are able to make a faster convection and recoveries as well as a better economy. Although the social consequences of the digital divide is a luxury for western countries as they are able to provide services such as policing and hospitals. However some countries in the world are unable to provide these services due to several factors which mean that they are impacted by the digital divide this means that communication sand socialising will be a major problem due to the lack of technology. Being switched on’ result in people having a lot opportunities such as being able to use social networking sites such as MySpace, face book, twitter. This will benefit an individual as using the internet will mean that you are aware of what’s going on around the world as you are constantly receiving information. On the other hand ‘being switched off’ will mean that you are limiting yourself and become victim of your own time. As 90million users are currently signed up to face book and if a person is a ‘have not you are isolating yourself from the world. The internet is useful if you are disabled person who finds it hard to find friends and socialise as the internet will allow them to socialise due to social networking sites this will mean that those who are disabled will have a positive social life. although disabled people the internet can result in positive social life it can be challenging to even get an internet access as they may find it difficult to even get a computer due to jobs being restricted as well as disabled people forming a large percent of have not show that the digital divide is deeper.
In the UK ICT is a compulsory subject in schools and it is compulsory to be taught up to the age of 15 which means that students are able to use the internet and are able to improve their ICT skill to help them in their daily lives. Furthermore the internet is used in schools to improve a students’ knowledge as they are able to access information about their and the internet is used by both teachers and students in the UK as the internet is a better supply of education as it offers online education sites such as bite sizes this BBC online education site designed to help student.
On the other hand the digital divide has affected the education of third world countries due to poverty they are enable to provide internet equipment as they are unable to afford this equipment due to the state of the country.

The economy in the UK is presumably suffering as a result of the digital divide. The reasons for this is due to lack of downloads, interent shopping and research mean that business are not flourishing as they are losing million of pounds. The internet is important to a countries economy as the internet supplies a better deal that save you money and plenty of time. However those people who do not have access to the internet miss out on these deals. Internet banking allows us to view bank statement at any time. Furthermore the internet allows us to find jobs instantly. Finally the internet is a vital aspect of life and without the internet you are at a disadvantage as you will miss out on great deals and savings.
Measures taken to narrow the digital divide
There different measures being taken to reduce the digital divide both globally and nationally. firstly one of these areas that try to narrow the digital divide is Bangladesh as it introducing a scheme called the ‘telephone ladies’ as amongst other developing countries Bangladesh has no fixed telephone lines which means that communication is difficult. However this scheme works by the bank giving a loan to someone to by a phone and the village in which the person that brought the phone belongs to will let other people use the phone to call. This scheme has been successful at the moment.
On a national level BT is organising kids to teach elderly net skills on the 24 September the mean aim of BT is to avoid total exclusion of the older generation from technology by creating a ‘grandparents day ‘this idea encourages the younger generation who are good at using technology to teach the elderly.

On a global level digital tax to aid poor nations tries to narrow the digital divide by taxing more developed countries in order to spare some money they will be charged 1 % from their public technology project.1 percent of the money will go to undeveloped nation so that they can get higher level of technology. This tax is voluntary and the only Geneva has agreed to this policy.
Finally digital divide data is a company that focuses on teaching the disabled on how to use technology this company was started by a Canadian born Jeremy Hockenstein he created a data entry company which he employed disadvantaged and disabled.
The extent of the digital divide
The digital divide is expending due to the expanding technology in the developed countries the digital divide is increasing due to developing countries being unable to keep up with the expanding divide. Further factor which increases the digital divide is the state of economy this is the main reason which contributes to the digital divide as in the developing countries there economy is not good therefore they find it difficult to purchase technology therefore they are at a disadvantage.
Conclusion
Overall the digital divide between those countries that are developed and the developing countries are huge and may world leaders are trying to narrow the gap is an important factor in order to improve communication between the world as well as getting rid of world property. Furthermore reducing the digital divide will improve the world’s economy. However reducing the digital divide is a challenging according to Edexcel GCE textbook’’70 percent of the world population live in remote rural areas. ‘This shows that the digital divide is widening rather than narrowing.