Bridging the Digital Divide - Confronting the Crisis and War of the Second Modernization

Author: Hu Yanping
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-11-01
Features: The digital divide issue refers to the "information gap," "knowledge divide," and "wealth disparity" problems caused by the differences in the development, application level, and innovative capacity regarding information and network technology among countries, regions, industries, and populations during the global digitalization process. The digital divide issue is a result, not the cause. The varying performances and developmental gaps of countries worldwide in the second modernization process, characterized by "global integration, political democratization, economic liberalization, and social informatization," are the true root of the problem. In the core content of the second modernization, informatization is not only closely linked with the other three aspects of modernization but also promotes, symbiotic with them. Fundamentally, information technology is reshaping education, science and technology, culture, international relations, and state forms, while also endowing democracy and freedom with new connotations. Just as marketization often promotes the liberalization of economic and social life, the productivity of information technology is changing various production relationships in many ways. The digital divide issue is also known as the wealth gap and North-South problem in the information age. Bridging the digital divide is not merely about the popularization and application of information technology.