Digital Divide.org

Digital Divide.org: "'Digital Divide' refers to the gap between those who benefit from digital technology and those who do not. (See www.itu.int/ITU-D/digitaldivide) It took digital-divide researchers a whole decade to figure out that the real issue is not so much about access to digital technology but about the benefits derived from it. Examining the situation more closely, it turns out that upper-to-middle classes have high-quality access to digital technology because the profit motive pushes technologists to work hard at creating 'solutions' designed specifically for them. In this equation, however, the poor are ignored because the assumption is that designing solutions for them will not be profitable.[1] The result is that even where the poor are provided access to digital technology, it is low-quality. Furthermore, the digital technology they do have access to is often of a design that ends up being harmful rather than beneficial. This, in turn, widens the digital divide."