by Joseph Saronge

Created on: February 26, 2009   Last Updated: March 06, 2009

Closing digital-divide still relevant despite poor economic situation

With the increase in information and communication technologies, a new economy emerged in which heavy investment in IT led to an era of sustained economic growth and significant productivity revival.

That era of economic thrust seems to be sinking and with the slow down the world is currently experiencing, some doubt if IT can still bolster economy the way it did in the 1990s, where acceleration in productivity growth dominated the scene.

In my view, despite economic melt-down, information technologies will continue to offer more to the economy by creating newer jobs as more ideas continue to emerge in the world's economic market.

The information technology has also not been fully exploited and many developing nations have not fully embraced internet technologies, and as suc,h there is still a wide market and gray areas to be explored.

Information and communication technologies do create jobs, which is an indicator of economic improvements. It is, therefore, important to still pursue ways and means by which both rich and poor nations can have basic access to the internet.

The imbalances in skills as well as physical access to information technology can be bridged if globalization works with the poor. The reason being that everyone gains. The private sector, on the other hand, gets the market and the people who form the government get more productive.

In other words, closing the digital divide must go along side empowering the poor given that there are differences in technology access between countries or larger regions of the world.

And since the digital divide may be classified based on gender, income, and race groups, and by locations, there is need to help the poor and women in ways that women are using the Internet for their empowerment.

Governments can work together to close the divide by designing systems that will provide equipment, training and well being of the local communities. This can be done by encouraging community and college educators to make strategic steps that will help provide necessary technology.

Other non governmental organizations have in the past been in the fore front of providing free computers to those who cannot afford it. One such initiative, which have in the past been pursued by others is the asiatotal.net which has been providing free computers to eastern Europe, Africa and Asia in order to bridge the gap.

Closing the divide also calls for more training of experts;

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