Digital Divide

Subject: Economy/Society

Context:

Many states flagged concerns over the digital divide in education in a meeting called by the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry to discuss the way forward for learning amid the Covid-19 outbreak.

Concept:

• 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
• The digital divide 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.
• According to CSC e-Governance Services India Ltd, a special purpose vehicle set up by the ministry of electronics and information technology, there has been a 100% surge in data consumption. There is a rural-urban component to the digital divide. Internet density in rural areas accounting for 66% of population is around 25%, while among urban population (34%), internet density is almost 98%.
• According to the Internet and Mobile Association of India, male users account for 67% of India’s online population; women account for just 29%.