The digital divide increases the cost of a job search, which simultaneously lowers both the chance of finding a suitable job and the ability to make a decent income.
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How Does The Digital Divide Affect Job Search? The digital divide increases the cost of a job search, which simultaneously lowers both the chance of finding a suitable job and the ability to make a decent income.
The ever-widening gap in the digital divide has significantly undermined industrialization in the developing world creating a notion of dependency and insufficiency. Considering the importance of technology in the development of a country, it is exceptionally essential that developing countries seek on ways of bridging the digital divide.
However, as the Internet has become integrated into daily business life, a digital divide has emerged: Some derive the benefits from Internet access, but many others do not. Many U.S. and international leaders and nongovernmental organizations have identified the digital divide as an area of concern.
Well, yes there are. To decrease the digital divide gap, we must tackle the problems of poverty, low education levels, and poor infrastructure. Below are solutions that can help narrow the digital divide gap. 1) Increase affordability
The digital divide increases the cost of a job search, which simultaneously lowers both the chance of finding a suitable job and the ability to make a decent income.
The coronavirus crisis has shown the effects of the digital divide in education: teachers and students out of the loop because they lack sufficient technology and digital skills. It also increases lack of knowledge by limiting access to knowledge.
There are at least three factors at play: information accessibility, information utilization, and information receptiveness. More than just accessibility, individuals need to know how to make use of the information and communication tools once they exist within a community.
The digital divide has its most direct impact on K-12 students in communities of color, which can lead to long-term negative consequences. Without access to high-speed internet or adequate digital skills, remote students face major challenges in learning.
Pros of the digital divideIncreased profitability among businesses having unrestricted access.Digital divide help converse culture and keep the societal fabric intact.Digital divide phenomenon offers increased opportunities.It is an expensive affair.Digital divide widen the segregation between people.More items...•
The digital divide is a significant challenge, but solutions exist. The digital divide can be closed by implementing digital inclusion policies, programs and tools that incorporate the following: Affordable, robust broadband internet service. Internet-enabled devices that meet the needs of the user.
According to studies and reports, the digital divide is still very much a reality today. According to a 2019 report, approximately 5 million rural American households and 15.3 million urban or metro areas still don't access broadband internet.
Digital Divide Examples Students in southern states, particularly students of color and those from low-income families, are less likely to have reliable internet access than their peers. These disparities can have devastating life-long consequences.
Answer. Answer: The major cause of the digital divide is access. Although this is the major contributing factor, there are other factors that contribute which include the following: cost of technology, access for the disabled, lack of skills, lack of education, lack of information, and lower-performance computers.
The term 'digital divide' is used to cover a broad range of social differences in access to and use of digital equipment and services, most notably personal com- puters, and the ability to access the internet in terms of both physical connection and facility of use.
The digital divide the Philippines refers to inequalities between individuals, households, and other groups of different demographic and socioeconomic levels in the Philippines in access to information and communication technologies ("ICTs") and in the knowledge and skills needed to effectively use the information ...
To conclude, technology has already reduced the difference between social classes and has created millions of jobs just for anyone with the right skillset. It is expected that it will further narrow the gap between the rich and the poor in the future.
So why does the Digital Divide exist? Well, many low income students do not have the ability to a desktop or laptop. Or, they can get the technology but cannot afford Internet (let alone high speed).
What is Digital Divide? “Digital divide” refers to the gap between those who have access to ICTs and those who don’t. ICTs are information and communication technologies that drive access to knowledge. While the term “digital divide” came into play in the mid 1990’s, it is still a hot button public policy debate.
Virtual schools are widening the Digital Divide as you need both technology and Internet to enroll. One result is what is called a “ homework gap ”. This is the gap between school-age children who have access to high-speed internet at home and those who don’t. Pew Research Data from 2018 shows that almost 1 in 5 school age children face this issue.
One way to bridge the Digital Divide is through Digital Inclusion which sets up Smart Cities. In spite of how complex the issues, some Smart Cities are trying to ensure access through infrastructure. Some are making an effort to set up public Wi-Fi networks. And other cities are finding innovative ways to get internet coverage to those who lack assess.
And some are more likely than others to face digital hurdles when they try to do their homework. Not completing homework may then lead to poorer grades. Teachers say this this may also lead to delinquency.
About two-thirds ( 64%) have home broadband / Internet, a smartphone, a desktop or laptop computer and a tablet. On the other side of the divide, only 18% of those living in lower-income households have this kind of access.
According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), at least 25 million people do not have broadband. And out of this group, 19 million live in rural areas. And, those who do have data plans may not be able to afford the extra cost that goes with all the usage.
The ever-widening gap in the digital divide has significantly undermined industrialization in the developing world creating a notion of dependency and insufficiency. Considering the importance of technology in the development of a country, it is exceptionally essential that developing countries seek on ways of bridging the digital divide. Some of the initiatives to bridging this gap such as the provision of incentives and awareness campaigns have shown a desirable degree of success while others, for instance, funding citizens’ technology experience have proven to be counter-active and sometimes harmful. A candid look at the impacts of the digital divide will guide on the direction and speed of bridging the digital gap. Some of the vivid effects of the digital divide are elaborated below
Some other factors that contribute to the digital divide in the society include age, race, and ethnicity. The digital divide has led to a rise of new alignments in the community whereby people are classified depending on ability to access internet services this is coupled with associated benefits, and therefore those with limited access ...
Such segregation creates a potential for social conflicts in the communities where the wealthy can have computers and access the internet while the poor are barred. Efforts to bridge this gap initiated at a personal level through unacceptable activities such as theft has led to the disruption of harmony in the society.
The inclusion of ICT services has been crucial in enhancing social interactions among people. Social websites such as Facebook and Instagram have been useful in facilitating communication and maintaining touch with friend and relatives of close ties. Technology is very influential on the levels of relations among members of society since new social opportunities arise when we include ICT in our relationships. People can now keep in touch with friends or even make new friends even amidst tight schedule courtesy of chat rooms. Besides, internet harbors fertile information about peoples’ culture and religion that are vital in guiding social relations.
The internet offers a rich reservoir of information and knowledge. Skills and expertise are well organized and conveyed over the internet making the use of computers to be a ubiquitous activity in the developed world. The access and availability of ICT have been associated with academic success and robust research activities since users can quickly make references. Education is a very dynamic sector and keeping up to date is crucial to success, the presence of internet access will ensure you get the latest trends and revolutionize your research skills. The inadequacy of ICT equipment has made the already weak education system in the developing countries even more ineffective.
Governments are now striving to avail ICT services to schools in an effort to improve the education standards. Installation of computer laboratories, provision of laptops to every student among other strategies have shown remarkable success rates.
Technology affects different cultures in varied ways either on the positive or the negative. The integral components culture like relationships, communications, and art have been dramatically evolved by technology. However, it seems like some specific customs and cultural traditions have remained intact. The developed countries experience tremendous changes in their culture as they incorporate new cultures acquired from the internet while the developing countries with people having limited access to the internet have their culture unchanged. Because they do not have access to technology, people in technology-poor nations are left behind. However, in order to narrow the digital divide, people need access to technology.
While the digital divide in the United States is largely a matter of education, cost barrier, and lack of adoption of new technology , the digital divide in economically underdeveloped countries adds the complication of infrastructure. Internet service requires the existence of widespread stable networks to handle large computer centers, and electronic access to the outside world needs a constant data connection. Therefore, in many developing countries, practically no residents have access to computers and the Internet; this cuts them off not only from information but from the entire global economy.
More than just a tool for information transfer, the Internet has become a conduit for a globalized workforce. A corporation in New York can outsource electronically based work to a highly connected developing country like India without incurring the sort of shipping charges or communication delays that previously impeded such efforts. Internet access, particularly for business, has made development possible in remote areas, allowing corporations access to less expensive labor and allowing money to flow into developing countries. However, as the Internet has become integrated into daily business life, a digital divide has emerged: Some derive the benefits from Internet access, but many others do not.
One contentious issue in bridging the digital divide is which billion to focus on—of the 6.8 billion people in the world, only an estimated 1.6 billion are connected to the Internet (Central Intelligence Agency).
Access to the Internet is an essential aspect of many successful job hunts, but it is also important to consider computer skills themselves. Many older adults who grew up without the Internet lack the computer and technology skills that contemporary jobs require. MSNBC reported in October 2009 that unemployment rates for older workers were at a 60-year high, having doubled in the period between late 2007 and the fall of 2009 (Johnson, 2009). While the overall unemployment rate at that time had reached a 26-year high, older workers who lacked the skills of younger, computer-savvy adults were suffering disproportionately. Lack of computer skills can be a crippling impediment to job success, even if a person can find a job in difficult economic times.
A lack of computer skills or Internet access can make it very difficult to find jobs. Computer skills are required for many jobs, so a lack of those skills may restrict someone to low-paying work.
The Digital Divide Institute has launched a campaign to integrate Indonesia into the global digital network as a representative solution to this problem. Indonesia is the world’s fourth-largest country in terms of population and already has wide cell-phone coverage—a significant advantage when it comes to rural information access (Digital Divide Institute, 2010). The organization claims that by expanding these wireless communication networks to encompass 3G and high-speed Internet access, access to the Internet could rise so much that Indonesia could become a fully emerging market for global services. To put this in perspective, connecting 20 percent of Indonesians to the Internet brings the total connected population of Indonesia to 48 million users, equivalent to all of South Korea, one of the most connected countries in the world (Central Intelligence Agency). The economic and political benefits of widespread Internet connectivity to nations like Indonesia are huge. The Digital Divide Institute points to Ireland as an example of how increasingly high-tech jobs can accompany the decline of terrorism—evidence that bridging the digital divide can be an issue of international security as well as global prosperity.
While the overall unemployment rate at that time had reached a 26-year high, older workers who lacked the skills of younger, computer-savvy adults were suffering disproportionately. Lack of computer skills can be a crippling impediment to job success, even if a person can find a job in difficult economic times.
An issue that broadens the digital divide is ‘participation inequality’ where users lack the skills to use it. Since user data is used in decision-making, the data collected may not be suitable enough for proper decision making hence leading to poor decisions that may lead to huge consequences.
In summary, the problem of the digital divide is just a symptom that points us to a much deeper problem in our economic development. And this is a problem that characterizes both the developed and underdeveloped nations in the world. Once the economic challenges of low education levels, poor infrastructure development, and low quality of life/ income levels are addressed, the digital divide will be eliminated.
The interaction between people and computers has increased in the past two decades as technology advances. The ability to access computers and internet has become crucial for society. Unfortunately, people still lacks access to modern technology and the internet.
To decrease the digital divide gap, we must tackle the problems of poverty, low education levels, and poor infrastructure. Below are solutions that can help narrow the digital divide gap.
This is because, in most cases, people cannot find content, online services or web and mobile applications in their primary language. Moreover, most people in rural areas lack the necessary prerequisite education to understand a lot of online content.
Taxes, patent fees and electricity are contributors to the high prices of technology. To help this, we can offer financing to help lower income earners afford new technology. Governments can give tariff subsidies to encourage them to buy these digital tools.
The internet relies on infrastructure to relay information between two or more computers located in different parts of the world. Lack of proper internet infrastructure, which is the case in many 3rd world countries, means either poor internet connection or no internet connection at all in those parts of the world.