digital divide

Information Technology is becoming more and more important in all aspects of people’ lives nowadays, namely access to computers and internet. It is believed that technology will guide businesses in the 21st century. However, it is argued that it would be nonsense to strongly rely on computer when in fact, for the big portion of population, access to computer and internet is not a reality. The main purpose of this essay is to outline the advantage and disadvantages of improving the digital divide by firstly address all the factors or barriers that contribute to the digital divide issues. Next, it will come up with some alternative solutions of how digital divide can be overcome and lastly, this essay will outline all the advantages and disadvantages of bridging the digital divide. Interaction between human and the information technology is increasing greatly in the 21st century. The ability to access to information technology is significantly important for a person to actively take part in the economic, social aspect of the world. However, there are only 39% of world population have access to this technology (Refer to Appendix 1). The term ‘Digital Divide” has quickly become so popular that it has entered everyday speech as shorthand for any and every disparity within the online community. In this essay, the digital divide or digital split refers to the gap between the underprivileged members of the society, namely those who are poor; live in rural area or elderly, and those who are wealthy, and young people living in city and suburbans areas who have the better condition to access to the computer and internet. (Norris P, 2001). There are many factors that contribute to the rate of digital divide. These are educations, income and race. It is obviously that people who have higher level of education are more likely to use the computer and the internet. Based on statistic, it is notable that the higher the qualification of a person is, the more likely he or she use