Bridge the digital divide

Author: Hu Yanping
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-11-01
Features: The digital divide issue refers to the "information gap," "knowledge segregation," and "wealth disparity" problems caused by differences in the development, application level of information and network technology, as well as varying innovation capabilities among countries, regions, industries, and populations during the global digitalization process. The digital divide is a result, not the cause. The varying performances and development 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 issue. In the core content of the second modernization, informatization is not only closely linked, motivating, and symbiotic with the other three modernizations. Fundamentally, information technology is reshaping education, science and technology, culture, international relations, and state forms, while also、 (giving democracy and freedom new connotations). Just as marketization often promotes economic and social liberalization, the productivity of information technology is changing various production relations in many aspects. The digital divide issue is also referred to as the wealth gap and North-South problem in the information age. Bridging the digital divide is not merely a matter of the popularization and application of information technology.