DIGITAL DIVIDE The issues surrounding access noting their

DIGITAL DIVIDE “The issues surrounding access; noting their role in social capital , knowledge capital and human capital”

DIGITAL ACCESS Whilst the Internet, World Wide Web, cell phones, television and other electronic information and communication technologies (ICTs) are opening up ways for the transformation of the way we live, learn, work and communicate, it is important to note that the decisions of opening, directing or closing of opportunities is key to bringing social and economic benefits to people around the world. Digital divide is a term that refers to the gap between demographics and regions that have access to modern information and communications technology, and those that don't or have restricted access. Digital access opportunities will improve social transformations as a result of increased use of ICTs. For example, where social transformations that ICTs would leverage is where the people of an oppressed country would make use of social media to gain support and plan for demonstrations resulted in overthrowing the current government in power.

ELEMENTS OF DIGITAL DIVIDE Access Knowledge & Usage Success Stories Conclusion

SOCIAL CAPITAL Social capital is “the collective value of all social networks and the inclinations that arise from these networks to do things for each other (‘norms of reciprocity’). In other words they are the networks of relationships among people who live and work in a particular society, enabling that society to function effectively. Essentially it creates value for people who are connected to each other. Users who engage and collaborate with in social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter are building social capital. In addition to building our social capital we are increasing our social and communication skills. Furthermore, we are growing our general digital literacy, whilst increasing our psychological wellbeing, as we feel connected and respected through engagement with others.

KNOWLEDGE CAPITAL Knowledge Capital is the intangible asset that represents valuable ideas, methods, processes and other intuitive talents that belong to a company. In 2011, Rev. Jesse Jackson Sir was quoted as saying in a keynote dinner speech, that the digital divide is as important as “closing the education divide, closing the healthcare divide and closing the economic divide. In deed, broad band is a tool that can be used to narrow these divisions and close the poverty wealth gap” (Legal speaks, 2011). This clarifies the issues of how the divide can impact on business, as those that are disenfranchised in terms of accented the divide is overcome, the technology can then be used to collate data for processing into information, resulting in knowledge being acquired and used in decision making processes to improve the business.

HUMAN CAPITAL Human capital is the skills, knowledge, and experience possessed by an individual or population, viewed in terms of their value or cost to an organization or country Education and literacy rank as key determinants of health, along with income and income distribution, employment, working conditions and the social environment, although the interrelationships and weighting of these various determinants demand further research. The second Canadian health report “Towards a Healthy Future” states.

CORRELATION BETWEEN DIVIDE AND SOCIAL CAPITAL The Digital Divide will cause for a social capital gap amongst people. Social Capital will improve when the digital divide amongst a group of people or a society shrinks. In both these cases digital access needs to be improved for all systems to work together effectively.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DIVIDE AND KNOWLEDGE CAPITAL For a stronger relationship between the digital divide and knowledge capital, people will have to be educated in order to be a asset for businesses. Business need valuable ideas, methods, processes and other intuitive talents to succeed in the knowledge department and people will have to be educated in this line of work to make a success and to improve digital divide

DIGITAL DIVIDE CHART Internet Users in the world Distribution 2012 N ni a ce a dl e id M O Ea st ric a Af be an ar ri C or th Am er ic a pe Eu ro As ia 45, 0% 40, 0% 35, 0% 30, 0% 25, 0% 20, 0% 15, 0% 10, 0% 5, 0% 0, 0%

CORRELATION BETWEEN DIVIDE AND HUMAN CAPITAL Uneducated people will never learn their own skills and knowledge if they never get educated or never have that chance to learn new things. This will not help the digital divide to shrink and thats why it is important to educate people who are unprivileged and make the divide smaller.

HOW TO ASSIST THE GOVERNMENT TO SOLVE THESE ISSUES AROUND ACCESS 1. 2. 3. Governments should start by using e-government tools in order to enhance e-readiness, encourage and educate the usage of ICT, and support the development of ICT skills in a way that does not discriminate. Make technology affordable for all countries. Upgrade infrastructure to give all countries a fair chance of learning new technology. Provide workshops for those with no access to the internet. Present people with there own personal computers and become competition for other countries.