The role of e-governance in bridging the digital divide.

• Author: Stoiciu, Andreea

Ever since I attended the May 2011 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum, I keep thinking about one of the trends in e-government that was debated there: namely, that the development of e-services is directly linked to the active involvement of citizens and the private sector in the delivery of public services. (Consequently, there is a need to increase the level and depth of all stakeholders' participation in decision making and in the process of implementing e-governance. This, together with international, national, and individual cooperation, could help address the issue of achieving an all-inclusive Information Society. On the other hand, the heterogeneity of e-government models and the great gap between knowledge-based and rudimentary societies are the biggest impediments to overcome. In this con-text, we need to discern what influence and role e-governance plays in bridging the digital divide.

THE DIMENSIONS OF THE DIGITAL DIVIDE

The concept of the digital divide has been evolving over the years, being generally defined as a social issue linked to the different amount of information between those individuals who have access to the information society and information and communication technology and those who do not. It also refers to countries, regions, cities, and businesses that are at a differentiated socio-economic and cultural level with regard to ICT accessibility. This gap includes imbalances in terms of access to Internet infrastructure, information and knowledge, and equality of opportunity depending on income, race, ethnicity, gender or other similar criteria.

The nature of the digital divide is complex and debatable; therefore, an accurate diagnosis of its causes is imperative in order to discern and implement the proper solutions. The digital divide is wide. There is a strong correlation between the digital divide and poverty. Almost 40 per cent of the world population lives in low-income countries. About one billion people have no access to ICT. In addition, the digital divide comes in many forms. Studies demonstrate that regardless of how many info-kiosks or telecentres are installed in a low-income or developing country, the probability of Internet use is ten times higher for a person in a developed or high-income country than for a person in a developing country. This demonstrates that education and changing mentalities are key factors in bridging the digital divide. Governments should act by developing...