The+Digital+Divide

__What is Digital Divide?__
toc The term refers to people not having the same degree of access to modern digital information and communication technologies which leads them to not having the same opportunities for social and economic development. There are varies types of Digital Divides.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCIB_vXUptY

__ Who suffers from the divide: __
The group that seems to suffer the most are the senior citizens, those with literacy issues, poor families and/or poor countries who do not have financial means to keep up with the cost of acquiring technology.

__Economic Divide:__
For the under developed countries, people can not afford computers therefore technology advancement will take a while. For the more advanced countries purchasing a computer is not a problem so the advance in technology will be quicker.

__Usability Divide:__
__What is known about usability divide:__
 * American businesses are estimated to lose over $60 billion in productivity each year due to employees’ lack of basic skills.
 * About 20 percent of America's workers have low basic skills, and 75 percent of unemployed adults have reading or writing difficulties.
 * Workers who lack a high school diploma earn a mean monthly income of $452, compared to $1,829 for those with a bachelor's degree.
 * The number of companies reporting skilled worker shortages more than doubled between 1995 and 1998, from 27 percent to over 47 percent.
 * A survey of more than 300 executives found that, while 71 percent reported that basic written communication training was critical to meeting their workplaces’ changing skills demands, only 26 percent of companies offered this kind of training. While 47 percent of the executives reported the need for workers to improve basic math skills, only 5 percent of companies offered basic math skills training.

Solution

 * Workplace literacy programs provide workers with the skills needed to get or retain a job, advance in their careers, or increase productivity.
 * Workplace literacy programs do not have to be expensive. Federal and state grants and tax credits are available.

__What Efforts are Underway to Eliminate the Divide:__
Massachusetts Institute of Technology; IMARA is an outreach program to solve global divide.The IMARA program is providing refurbished computers and training skills necessary to connect with the rest of the world, teaching maintenance skills for sustainable development, providing low-cost accessible computers, making technological courses available for citizens, and computer education for children before their adolescent years.

In India and Uganda, June 2005, AMD and Wyse's Digital partnered to start an inclusion program which was launched to provide both computer and telephone access via wireless networking, and in turn enable a variety of educational and social services for villagers. AMD and Wyse plan to replicate similar programs globally as part of the Wyse Digital Inclusion program and AMD's initiative.

The fact that year after year technology gets more affordable will help and the training that most places offer to learn how to use technology properly.

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