Digital divide

Sudan Jha

The Digital Divide is the discrepancy between people who have easy access to use new information and communication tools, such as the internet, and people who do not have the resources and access to such technology. The term also describes the difference between those who have the skills, knowledge and abilities to use the technologies and those who do not. In the context of Nepal, the digital divide exists between people living in rural areas and those living in urban areas.

Why is the digital divide widening in Nepal? The recently surveyed record states that "On average, less than one out of every 30 of the 1.3 billion people in the South Asian region have access to computers and only a small fraction of these use the internet". In Nepal, the fraction is very low as the ‘teledensity’ (telephone connections per 100 people) is 0.9. In South Asia about 80 per cent of websites are in English and the number of people who speak English is very low. The low teaching quality of English language in schools and colleges in most parts of the country (especially outside the valley) has contributed to further widening the gap. Thus, even literate Nepalese cannot benefit from the IT revolution without a working knowledge of the English language.

The liberalisation of state-owned telecommunication industries is seen as a positive factor to attract foreign investment, market competition, and private industry involvement. Nepal is one of the positive examples of a country that benefited several other industries from this process after Nepal Communication Authority (NCA) deregulated its telecom market in 1997. The number of telephone lines in the country increased significantly when NCA took a liberal approach by establishing the licensing provision. Nepal has the lowest IP access prices in South Asia. The low cost of Internet surfing in the valley (around Rs 30 an hour) is an example of this.

But, has this has not bridged the ‘Techno-crisis’. Initiatives from private industries should focus on local efforts to bridge this divide and the government should begin to reform the IT policies to focus on grass root levels. Besides exploring new avenues for software/hardware exports and investments in the IT industry, having access to global information and using various tools provided by the internet can help improve the quality of life of the people. For example, farmers in Sri Lanka are using community radio with the Internet and are receiving information on any subject they want. Similarly, in Bangladesh, farmers plan their crops by reading weather patterns via satellite. So can IT do the same for the common person in Nepal in the future?.

UNDP has recently published "Creating a development dynamic", a report that looks in detail at how technology can be used to support development programmes. In it, they list many examples of the successful use of technology as an aid to social and economic development. The report argues that developing countries do not face a choice between ICT and other development priorities like health and education. This is a point worth arguing, because there is a general view that getting clean water, good healthcare and enough food to isolated villages is more important than giving them technology. And, many believe that about 99 percent of benefits of having a computer come when you’ve provided reasonable health and literacy to the person who’s going to sit down and use it.’

Former US president Bill Clinton allocated millions of dollars to ensure that every American would have access to the Internet and best education, especially in poor and underdeveloped areas. The UK leases 100,000 discounted computers to underprivileged families. Hong Kong already established grants for schools to buy computers and train their teachers in the field of IT.

Less developed countries like Nepal must be part of the world of IT if they are to have any influence at all. A technological infrastructure, based on fast and reliable telecommunications and usable computers, is vital for this. It matters in cities, where people with programming skills can work for virtual organisations. It matters equally in rural areas, where a solar-powered computer with a wireless network connection can provide educational materials for children, health care advice to support local paramedics and even information on crop management or prices for cash crops.

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