Area Navigation
What we do
Content
Information and communication technologies
Background: the digital divide
In spite of rapid technological developments, there are many people around the world who are being denied access to ICT and the opportunities they open up.
According to the 2008 Human Development Index (HDI), in 2005 only 48 out of every 1,000 people living in the least developed countries (LDCs) owned a mobile phone and only 12 out of every 1,000 had internet access. In contrast to that, 785 out of every 1,000 people in OECD countries owned a mobile phone, and 445 out of every 1,000 had internet access.
This unequal access to ICT in a national, regional and international comparison of various population groups is known as the digital divide, a term coined in the mid-1990s. Countries affected by the divide are at a considerable competitive disadvantage in the globalised world, because more and more countries are utilising modern technologies, for example to sell products on the internet.
