Awareness on the

Ramifications of Digital
Divide In South Africa
By Celine Bianca Chetty

What is the digital divide?

Digital divide is a term that refers to the gap between demographics and
regions that have access to moderninformation and communications
technology, and those that don't or have restricted access. This technology
can include the telephone, television,personal computersand theInternet.

Thedigitaldivide typically exists between those in cities and those in rural

areas; between the educated and the uneducated; between socioeconomic
groups; and, globally, between the more and less industrially developed
nations. Even among populations with some access to technology, the digital
divide can be evident in the form of lower-performance computers, lowerspeedwirelessconnections, lower-priced connections such asdial-up, and
limited access to subscription-based content.

Types of digital divides

There are several forms of digital divides. We divide among three types:

(1) Those who have computers and Internet access vs. those who don't

(2) Those who are able to use digital contents vs. those who don't

(3) those who are able to produce digital contents vs. those who don't.

Digital Divide: The 3 Stages

Stage 1: Economic Divide: In its simplest form, the digital divide is

manifested in the fact that some people can't afford to buy a computer.
Although politicians always talk about this point, it's growing more irrelevant
with each passing day at least in the industrialized world. We should
recognize that for truly poor developing countries, computers will remain out
of the average citizen's reach for 20 years or more.

Stage 2: Usability Divide: Far worse than the economic divide is the fact that
technology remains so complicated that many people couldn't use a computer
even if they got one for free. Many others can use computers, but don't
achieve the modern world's full benefits because most of the available
services are too difficult for them to understand. Almost40% of the
population has lower literacy skills, and yet few websites follow the
guidelines forwriting for low-literacy users. Even government sites that
target poorer citizens are usually written at a level that requires a university
degree to comprehend.

Digital Divide: The 3 Stages

(continued)

Stage 3: Empowerment Divide: We have the knowledge needed to close the

usability divide, and I remain hopeful that we'll get the job done. The
empowerment divide, however, is the hard one: even if computers and the
Internet were extraordinarily easy to use, not everybody would make full use
of the opportunities that such technology affords. Participation inequalityis
one exponent of the empowerment divide that has held constant throughout
all the years of Internet growth: in social networks and community systems,
about 90% of users don't contribute, 9% contribute sporadically, and a tiny
minority of 1% accounts for most contributions.

Social capital

Once an individual is connected, Internet connectivity and ICTs can enhance

his or her future social and cultural capital.Social capitalis acquired through
repeated interactions with other individuals or groups of individuals.
Connecting to the Internet creates another set of means by which to achieve
repeated interactions. ICTs and Internet connectivity enable repeated
interactions through access to social networks, chat rooms, and gaming sites.
Once an individual has access to connectivity, obtains infrastructure by which
to connect, and can understand and use the information that ICTs and
connectivity provide, that individual is capable of becoming a "digital citizen"

Knowledge capital

Since gender, age, racial, income, and educational gaps in the digital divide
have lessened compared to past levels, some researchers suggest that the
digital divide is shifting from a gap in access and connectivity to ICTs to
aknowledge divide.A knowledge divide concerning technology presents the
possibility that the gap has moved beyond access and having the resources to
connect to ICTs to interpreting and understanding information presented once
connected.

Human capital

The human capital in South Africa is all about the economy growth and
welfare.

The elements of human capital is the skills to view the quality of labour,
knowledge and wisdom. Improvement in the quality of human resources can
lead to lower unit costs of production and sales and in that way decreases
marginal cost structures.
(http://www.sajhrm.co.za/index.php/sajhrm/article/viewFile/100/101)

A Solution to solve issues around access.

Free access to internet in schools around rural areas like in villages.

More public transport is needed around the rural areas for people who dont
have any access to cafes or library's in the city or clinics.

They should give out free tablets and laptops to students in rural areas and
township schools.

The government should advertise this awareness to peoples understanding,

should be through the internet,television,radio and the newspapers.