Digital Divide

Prior research reveals the interrelations between gentrification and policing, yet this paper introduces the unheard perspective of the of police on their role in gentrification. The study focuses on South Tel Aviv, which houses immigrants, drug addicts, prostitution and houselessness. It is undergoing massive urban renewal and has become the most policed area in the city. Methodology includes interviews with police officers (N-15), ethnography with urban police and spatial analysis of urban renewal. The paper argues that: 1. Gentrifying a high-crime neighborhood triggers a collision of urban forces and spatial negotiations amid users, institutions, and areas in the city. 2. Police play a significant role in this process and must operate intensive borderwork on various scales, with technology becoming a tool for internal, microgeographical social borderwork. 3. Policing gentrification raises reflexivity among officers regarding their profession, social obligation and position in urban politics. The paper concludes with the concept of policing temporality to describe the role of police in gentrification.

A growing and widely held assumption is that digital communication technologies enable average citizens to participate in politics more easily, actively and directly than in traditional ways. The Internet in this framework, from blogs and video post to social media and mobile apps, breaks down barriers for political participation. The idea is that the Internet is a non-hierarchical democratic space where people can access, create and act on political information in a broader range of activities, whether as part of election campaigns, online petitions, digital activism or even revolutionary change. In this thinking, it is increasingly the individual who participates in digital politics without the involvement of a civic group or political party. Put together, this creates a more democratic scenario in which individuals exercise freedom of expression in a networked, horizontal and participatory digital network without bureaucratic, organizational or state intervention. I call this philosophy around the Internet ‘Silicon Valley Ideology’, which has proliferated along with the mass diffusion of social media technologies. The contradiction in this ideology, however, is that these institutionalized beliefs in egalitarian political participation mask the realities of structural inequalities. Silicon Valley Ideology builds on theories that challenge the folly of free markets, Internet utopianism, and egalitarian citizenship. The rise of the Internet has not only coincided with the rise of technological advancements, but it has also run parallel with the rise of neoliberal, market-based politics and economies in which individual rights are at the core of neoliberal ideology. However, class-based capitalist societies are not based on the individual but on hegemonic forces linking the market, the state and civil society. Yet part of the Silicon Valley Ideology is to keep the state’s hands off the Internet and not to intervene, censor or monitor personal Internet activities. Yet this philosophy is in conflict with any state support for full social citizenship, Internet or otherwise. Citizenship in a neoliberal age of digital politics often marginalizes the poor and working class, resulting in a digital politics gap.

The digitally marginalised communities are in focus in the EU-funded Rural Wings project 2006-2008. The aim is to identify and analyze the user learning needs in non-connected communities and to meet these needs by providing satellite internet broad band connections, education and tools. This paper reports the findings of the user needs investigation of 31 communities in 10 countries in the initial phase of the project designed and coordinated by Stockholm University, Sweden. Each national coordinator conducted a user needs study in their country using a common framework of questions and guidelines. The sites were selected according to national and regional needs and where satellite provided Internet is believed to be the long term solution. The 31 communities selected can be summarized in a) Mainland/Lowland communities, 10 b) Mainland/Highland communities, 12 c) Island/Lowland communities, 5, and d) Island/Highland communities, 4. The analysis reveals common threads of lack of infrastructure, accessibility and reliability concerning information and communication technology (ICT) implementation and containment in the community. There is a plethora of reasons for wanting more reliable and frequent Internet connections. Reasons range from educational opportunities, language opportunities, governmental inclusion, information/news outlets, and medical and weather initiative capabilities. This study provides in depth macro-summaries of each participating country’s user needs analysis in total. It also includes the actual analysis of each test site based on over 31 sites spanning 10 European nations. In addition, generalizations, comparisons and differences have been composed, to provide a framework for European trends in rural ICT access

Abstract
Competitive robotics programs are shown by a number of researchers to be increasing in popularity, with team organizations and competition events being successfully diffused and adapted across the nation. This study examined, through the application of the Diffusion of Innovations theory developed by Everett Rogers, as well as how and to what degree these STEM-based learning programs for school-age children are being effectively diffused in a state which has a lack of technology access and a persistent digital divide. The basis of this study consisted of interviews with adult mentors and coaches who lead and guide these student robotics teams. In terms of Diffusion of Innovations Theory, this study examined whether and how the coaches and mentors may be the change agents and innovators who are diffusing competitive robotics technology through these programs. Participants were interviewed about the factors that assist and hinder this innovation’s diffusion and adoption in Mississippi. Further, the study also examined what STEM-based knowledge students may be gaining through the diffusion of this innovation.
Keywords: diffusion, robotics, STEM, innovations, Rogers, Everett

Africa has witnessed a sharp rise in mobile penetration and coverage, but efforts on community broadband have been patchy. With current predictions that Africa’s mobile money market will be worth $14.27 billion by 2020, it is no wonder why the focus has been more on mobile telephony rather than on fibre optic and wired broadband. However pockets of multi- stakeholder broadband forums have been shaping up, for example, the recent Commonwealth Broadband Forum in June which was held in Nigeria to discuss the impact broadband can have on the lives of citizens. African countries now need to seek solutions to the issue of access and connectivity that combines both mobile phone and fibre broadband approaches. Facebook has not be an idle bystander in this promising area that drives growth in Africa as seen by its Internet.Org project as well as its current research on how to improve connectivity.

In a context where the proportion of older people increases, research related to active aging and digital technologies has generated a wide debate and numerous investigations aiming to implement new public policies. Usually these are based more on “classic” gaps than on the so-called “grey divide”, which focuses on perceptions and attitudes. To capture this dimension, a questionnaire was designed on uses, learning, and ethical, motivational and attitudinal aspects. A field work was carried out aimed at the population of the Autonomous Community of Madrid between 65 and 80 years old, with quotas of age and sex, with a total of 785 cases, with a sampling error of 3.5% for a p=95%. The results indicate that, given the specific uses made by the elderly, they are marked by the ubiquity of the cell phone, which is basically used to communicate, to alleviate loneliness and to stay active. Thus, through a cluster analysis we have been able to elaborate a typology of users according to attit...

A preoccupation with content and connectivity in bridging the digital divide obscures the role of information and communication technology in making different ways of knowing and other logics and experiences visible or invisible. How to deal with this diversity in information systems and what is the role of Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS)? In a discussion of the Development Gateway,

... Dr.Sarita Singh Bhadauria Department of Elex & CSE MITS Gwalior (MP) India [email protected] Vishnu Sharma, Department of Computer Science Jaypee University of Engineering and Technology, Guna (MP) India [email protected] ...

The authors undertake an exploratory study, in the context of a digitally disadvantaged community in the United States, to determine what factors are associated with e-government website visitation. Following a community-based initiative, designed to stimulate computer literacy and access to information and commu- nication technologies for residents and neighbors of an underserved public housing community, a survey of e-government website visitation was undertaken. The results indicate that over half of the respondents are aware of or have visited e-government websites, with nearly a third indicating they intend to use e-government websites in the future. Awareness of e-government websites was found to be significantly related to e-government website visitation. Internet experience and perceived access barriers were found not to be significantly related to e-government website visitation. This research enhances the understanding of visitation of e-government services among techno-disadvantaged citizens to encourage greater inclusion. The authors conclude by emphasizing the importance of a community organizing strategy to sustain e-government participation among the digitally disadvantaged.

This article focuses on the critical role ICT policy design and implementation can play in developing a knowledge-based economy in distressed US communities. Using a multiple case study research design, the study tests three hypotheses: (1) linkages among government, education and industry are a critical success factor for ICT interventions; (2) due to the long-term nature of ICT, vision and leadership are also critical; and (3) investments in technology infrastructure must be part of a larger local planning process to succeed. These hypotheses are supported, but the strength of the article is in the details about how communities crafted unique responses to critical issues.

Chatten met vrienden, muziek downloaden, informatie voor een spreekbeurt opzoeken op het internet, een filmpje op Youtube plaatsen, … het zijn maar enkele toepassingen die meer en meer ingeburgerd geraken in ons dagelijks leven. Informatie- en communicatietechnologie (ICT) neemt een steeds belangrijkere plaats in op diverse levensterreinen. In onderwijs, werk en vrije tijd is voor veel mensen ICT niet meer weg te denken.

Onze samenleving is de laatste decennia sterk in evolutie, onder meer door deze snelle technologische veranderingen. We kunnen ze typeren als een kennismaatschappij. Hierin staat een grote versnelling van de productie en verspreiding van kennis centraal, samen met een groeiende toegang tot deze kennis voor brede lagen van de bevolking. Tegelijk wordt onze samenleving ook steeds complexer: er is meer en meer kennis nodig om bij te blijven met de snelle technologische en maatschappelijke veranderingen.

Women, as half of the population of each society, play an important role in development. Accordingly, in the recent decades, many sociologists paid their attention to the study of women’s empowerment and its explanations. This study aims to examine the relationship between digital divide and women empowerment in Iran. In addition, we attempted to assess the women empowerment and its dimensions (access and control of resources, participation, gender awareness, mobility and security). Also we investigated independent variables including marital Status, respondents and their families’ Income, social class, Education level of respondents and their spouses, Head of household status, employment status, occupation, age, technology divide, information access divide, information literacy divide. By multistage random sampling, 600 ones were surveyed based on leen formula. Required Data was collected from Shiraz women aged 15-54 through distributed questionnaires. The study findings indicated variables: social status, respondent and husband education, technology divide, and information literacy divide and information access had a significant relation with the women empowerment; meanwhile marital status had no significant relationship with women empowerment. Multiple regression showed that 27 percent of the variance of women empowerment variable was explained through the independent variables (information literacy divide, respondents under Graduate Diploma).

In this chapter we consider the educational needs of the globally diverse information technology (IT) sector and a curriculum that has been developed in order to respond to them. We begin by discussing two human resource (HR) gaps that are affecting the preparation of tomorrow’s IT workforce. The first gap is a participation gap, which is related, in part, to the under representation in recruitment and retention of students with particular demographic profiles in information systems and technology (IS&T) education. The second gap is a knowledge gap, which is related to the globalization of the IT field and the challenges of developing compatible curriculum and pedagogical practices that will prepare students for careers in such a field. We argue that diversity is a lens that can be used to both understand these HR gaps and to develop curricular responses to them. We do this by considering, as a case study, a course developed and taught in the College of Information Sciences and Tech...

Public discourse about overuse as an undesired side effect of digital communication is growing. This article conceptually develops and empirically analyzes users’ perceived digital overuse (PDO) as a widespread social phenomenon sensitive to existing inequalities. In an age of digital communication abundance and closing Internet access divides, overuse has not been systematically investigated nor are its social disparities known. In a first step, PDO is demarcated from Internet addiction, theoretically defined, and operationalized. Then, the prevalence of perceived overuse is assessed in a representative population sample of Italian Internet users (N = 2,008) and predictors of digital overuse are tested. Results show that digital communication use and the level of social pressure to function digitally are positively related to PDO. Education is negatively associated with PDO and positively with digital communication use and social digital pressure. Overuse is emerging as a new dimension of digital inequality with implications for theory and future research in digital well-being.

In most Australian correctional jurisdictions, prisoners are not allowed access to the internet precluding them from participating in higher education online. Making the Connection is an Australian government funded project which is taking digital technologies, that don't require internet access, into prisons to enable prisoners to enroll in a suite of pre-tertiary and undergraduate programs. A version of the University of Southern Queensland's learning management system has been installed onto the education server of participating prisons. The second stage of the project will see notebook computers preloaded with the learning management system and course materials, allocated to participating prisoners. At the time of writing, the project has been deployed at thirteen sites in Queensland and Western Australia, with a further three sites coming on board in time for semester I 2016 and negotiations underway for further rollout to Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, the ACT and the Northern Territory.

Abstract: The magnitude of the impact Digital divide to the education system and the community at large can’t be described further than the works of[1], [2],[3]. After assessing the level of digital divide impact and the level of participation in ICT projects one may choose either to take mitigatory measures or to accept consequences of the unchecked digital divide. This paper however does not consider accepting the impact as one of its strategic choices, as such, proposes a strategy matrix which presents best possible strategic options one can pursue to curb the ever growing digital divide gap depending on the nature of digital divide exposure.

This paper explores the contexts and motivations that underpin the uptake of Australia’s National Broadband Network (NBN). The findings are drawn from a mixed-methods research study of households using surveys and interviews conducted in 2011 and 2012 in an early release site of the NBN rollout. Whilst use and non-use have traditionally been treated as questions of digital access, inequality and exclusion, there is evidence for emerging forms of non-use characterized by more critical and discriminating approaches. We contribute to this evidence, but our findings suggest that use and non-use of high speed broadband do not occur in isolation or as an expression of individual choice, but as part of increasingly dense household media ecologies of digital infrastructures, devices, services and knowledge.

The phenomenon of the digital divide is one of the main study objects in contemporary societies. This paper focuses on the intra-rural digital divide, presenting a typology based on empirical data retrieved from two Greek Regional Units in a sample of 339 farmers. A scale of 23 ICT skills performed to detect the cognitive and technical ICT skills of the farmers. The Exploratory Factor Analysis demonstrates a solution of 5 skill groups. Considering the factor scores and the farmers' socio-demographic characteristics, a Two-Step Cluster Analysis is carried out, releasing three types of digital maturity. Non- familiar with ICTs are the “Digitally Ignorant” farmers, who are low educated, relatively old in age and full-time farmers. Assuming that several innovations in the agricultural sector require increased ICT skills, “Digitally Matures” is potentially the most innovative; however, they are not primarily farmers, a fact that limits this possibility. We argue that human resource development policies in the agricultural sector should focus on “Digitally Teens” as their main occupation is being farmers and their ICT skills could be encouraged through training.

This paper examines the latest research on the digital skills crisis, focusing on the factors that contribute to digital exclusion. Through an extensive analysis of current literature on the digital divide, the authors discuss digital skills gaps, namely the exclusion of a sizeable part of the workforce from the digital market economy—and women in particular. Studies indicate that exclusion from the digital market is augmented and reinforced when combining the gender dimension with other exclusionary factors such as disability, age, race and socioeconomic background. Research confirms that the gender imbalance in ICT and related sectors persists today, despite decades of equal opportunity policies, legislation and government initiatives. Women are still underrepresented and digitally excluded and efforts to attract, recruit and retain girls and women in ICT and STEM seem to be failing, reinforcing the gender gaps: participation gap, pay gap, and leadership gap, a result of the deep-...

In the year 2000, at the dawn of the 21st century, World Leaders from 189 States gathered at the United Nations (UN) Millennium Summit to discuss the millennium development goals. In order to achieve the goal of eradicating poverty by the year 2015, one of the resolves of the UN millennium declaration was to ensure that the benefits of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are available to all. A digital divide between developed and developing countries was identified, a global effort to bridge this divide was set forth, but what has the world effectively accomplished upon this goal? How do new concepts such as the Internet economy and digital convergence relate to the task of bridging the digital divide? What is the role of ICT standardization in bridging the digital divide? This paper will shed some light on these issues