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CS5038 The Electronic SocietyLecture 17: Geography of Internet and Digital DivideLecture Outline
• The Geography of the Internet• Internet users worldwide• Rate of diffusion – Internationally/Intra-nationally• Production of Internet• Why Urbanisation?• Telework• The Digital Divide• Lasting Consequences of initial divide• Gap Between Countries• Why is the Internet Widening the Divide?
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The Geography of the InternetTwo perspectives:
1. Technical geography Routers, telecommunications lines etc.
2. Geography of users
Geography of Internet users: www.zooknic.com
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Note: Asia-Pacific has 2/3 of world population, but only 23.6% of Internet users
Highest density of users:
Scandinavia
North America
Australia
South Korea
93% of world population not online
In 1999 over half the people on the planet had not made or received a telephone call – but this is changing fast
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Diffusion
Internationally: Internet is diffusing fastBUT: According to wealth, technology and power
Intra-nationally:Large cities/towns first - rural areas lag considerablyContradicts with futurologists’ image of working and living in
countrysideDivide exists in western countries, but even starker in
developing countriesIn China Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou accounted for 60%
of Chinese Internet users (Sept. 2000) While penetration for whole country was less than 2% of population
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Production of InternetUse of Internet is diffusing broadly, but not production…
Hardware/technology Producers of hardware/technological innovation
concentrated in USA/Japan
Content Top sites… pageviews in 2000:
USA 83% South Korea 5.6% UK 2.9% Germany 1.1%
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Why Urbanisation? Agricultural activities: few jobs generating little wealthMetropolitan areas: Higher value generating activities
Higher income => greater opportunity for provision of services: education, health
Human development opportunities Spillover of wealth even for those at bottom of society
Why does information age favour metropolitan concentration?? Dependence on (1) Innovation and capacity to diffuse innovation Centres of innovation appear in large metropolitan areas Milieux of innovation
milieu n : the environmental condition [syn: surroundings] [also: milieux (pl)]
Not just technological innovation but also (2) Innovation in business and financial services
(3) Cultural industries: media; entertainment; art; fashion etc. (4) Source of innovation = highly educated workers and entrepreneurs…
attracted to vibrant urban areasCentre of cultural creativity and entrepreneurial innovation
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TeleworkWhat happened to telecommuting/working from home?Survey results:
Electronic homeworking limited to 1-2 days per week and usually part time Most homeworkers still needed to commute to the office most days
Other forms of teleworking: Call centres concentrate workers with sophisticated equipment, but handle calls
from all over the world Mobile teleworking: worker in the field, with clients and partners, but keeps in
contact with office via phone and Internet Modern worker has multiple workplaces: office, train, plane, airport, hotel
NOTE: this changes the nature of work very much - it mixes with home life Firms relinquish tight hierarchical control Firms increase work extraction See PDF: "where home is the office"
General features:Traditional modes of operation often not replaced, but supplemented
Continue work at home after the day in the office Videoconference for extra interactions in addition to travelling to traditional
conferences Check prices online before going to high street shops
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The Digital Divide= Gap between those who have and those who do not have the ability to
use the technologyFacts: In 2000: 9/10 hosts in developed countries (<1/5 world population) In 2000: City of New York had more Internet hosts than the whole
continent of AfricaGap exists both within and between countries Governments try to close gap within countries by supporting
education and infrastructure Gap narrowed in US from 1998 to 2000 Exception: ethnic gap; esp. Afro-Americans
International organisations try to close gap between countries - but it is widening
Some complex issues:Are people excluded by being disconnected?
ORIs it by being connected that they become dependent on economies and
cultures which cannot give them a path to material well-being or their own cultural identities?
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EU Statistics Office 2005Use of Internet during the first quarter of 2004:
85 percent of students 40 percent of the unemployed 13 percent of the retired
With regard to education: 77 percent with a tertiary education 52 percent with a secondary education 25 percent with a lower secondary education
In general (not just EU) Gaps in the use of ICTs depending on Age employment status educational level degree of urbanization of the area where one lives Family (single/unmarried parents => less access) Disability - vision or mobility problems
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Lasting Consequences?The gap within countries is narrowing
BUT… Rise of Internet took place in conditions of social inequality
…possible lasting consequences of initial divide Users shape the Internet to a greater extent than any
other technology First users may have shaped the Internet for latecomers –
both in terms of content and technology Recall how libertarian pioneers shaped Internet in early
days Commercial uses followed the model of consumption and
social organisation of the affluent social groups Internet may be biased towards them
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Gap Between CountriesDuring 1990s, coinciding with Internet growth, the world
experienced a substantial increase in income inequality, polarisation, poverty, social exclusion
20% of world population dispose of 86% of wealth
Overall gap in productivity, technology, income, social benefits, living standards between developed and developing world increased during 1990s
Environmental conditions deteriorated in terms of natural resources and mushrooming of cities
These cities are projected to be the home of half the population of developing countries shortly
Simultaneously increasing wealth and poverty
Why is the Internet Widening the Divide?
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Why is the Internet Widening the Divide?Dynamic, flexible global management systems and mobility of resources
Sources of value can easily be connected (increasing value for them) and disconnected (cutting the out of loop)
Education, information, science, technology more important than ever for value creation But extremely unevenly distributed e.g. telecommunications infrastructure missing – financial and
human resources to address this are missingConnection to global economy makes developing countries increasingly
vulnerable to financial crisesTraditional agriculture being eliminated => rural exodus overloading
overcrowded cities => ecological catastropheCriminal economy penetrates politics and institutions
Destabilises societies, corrupts and disorganises statesLarge scale banditry and civil wars
Internet increases ability of leaders in poor countries to extract whatever is valuable in country – marginalising unskilled masses
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Summary• The Geography of the Internet• Internet users worldwide• Rate of diffusion – Internationally/Intra-nationally• Production of Internet• Why Urbanisation?• Telework• The Digital Divide• Lasting Consequences of initial divide• Gap Between Countries• Why is the Internet Widening the Divide?