BRIDGING THE GLOBAL DIGITAL DIVIDE

This is hopefully the last in a series of postings triggered by Jeffrey James’ book, “Bridging the Global Digital Divide.”


I think that James’ title for his book is misleading. His book focuses on is the provision of telephone, computer, and Internet services to the poor, especially the rural poor, in developing nations. I think the current lack of such services is dreadfully unfair, and should be rectified promptly. But I don’t think that doing so, even if successful, will bridge the most important digital divides.

James mentions the use of schools to provide Internet services in rural areas. Doing so would utilize the capacity of computers and the Internet in the time the kids were not in school – after hours, weekends, holidays, etc. It would also tend to improve relations between the schools and the community. But, as James points out, schools are not especially good at providing services other than schooling to their local communities.

The point I would make is that schools should have telephone service, computers, and Internet connectivity because, if these resources are properly utilized, they are cost-effective tools in improving the quality and efficiency of the schools in their primary function, and because schooling is very important for development. Health posts, agricultural extension services, and many other government services should similarly have access to telephones, computers, and the Internet.

Thus, “village governmental cybercenters” make a lot of sense in poor countries, so that one center would provide access for all the relevant government agencies in a village. Similarly, let me propose that “village business cybercenters” would make a lot of sense, giving access for agricultural cooperative staff and members, local merchants, visiting businesspeople, local crafts workers, etc.

I think providing access to these government, civil society and private sector people (many of whom are not poor themselves) may be even more significant than providing access directly for the rural poor. These are the intermediaries who provide goods and services in the rural areas that the poor need. Improving the quality and lowering the cost of the services they provide (via appropriately utilized ICT resources) should really help reduce the worst aspects of poverty in and surrounding the villages.

The argument must be further extended. Today ICT is involved in every aspect of society. The cumulative effect of all the aspects of the digital divide on the poor is like “the death of a thousand cuts”. Let me give an example, from the life of a farmer:
· The new varieties of crops to be grown by a poor farmer may come late or contain less desirable traits because the agricultural research station faces a digital divide, as does the seed producer.
· The seed may be degraded in storage or transport, and it may be more expensive than necessary because the venders and transporters in the seed supply chain face their digital divides.
· The roads may not be as good as they should be because the engineers and transportation departments face digital divides.
· Transportation may be more expensive, less timely, and more damaging to the goods transported because of the digital divides faced by truckers, railroads, ports and shipping companies,
· The farmer may not have weather forecasts as good as they might be because the weather bureau and meteorologists face their digital divides.
· The farmer may have less timely access to chemical inputs (fertilizer, pesticides, etc.), and pay more for less quality, because all those involved in their production and marketing face their own digital divides, and because the markets for such inputs are less efficient than they would be if it were not for still another digital divide.
· He may have less information on the diseases and pests threatening his crops than would be desired, because the people gathering and disseminating that information face still another digital divide.
· He may know less about his soils than one would desire because of the digital divides faced by the soils scientists and agricultural extension agents; he may have less appropriate supplies and methods to improve his soils because of digital divides in their supply chains.
· He may have less and less timely water because of the digital divides faced by those building, maintaining and operating irrigation systems; he may have less knowledge of how to use that water and less effective technology for doing so because of still more digital divides.
· His farm machinery and other equipment may not be as well designed, as well maintained, or as available as they should be because of the digital divides faced by the people in that supply chain.
· His labor force may not be as informed, skilled, healthy or available as desired because of the digital divide in still more supply chains.
· He may lose more of his crop post-harvest because of still other digital divides, and he may not get as good a price for the goods he sells.
· He benefits less from national economic and farm policies and programs than he might, because the people who make those policies, and who implement those programs face their digital divides.
· And on, and on, and on….

Few if any of these problems would be addressed by providing low-cost telephone, computer and Internet access to the farmers themselves. Rather the society as a whole needs an entire ICT infrastructure appropriate to its poverty reduction strategy, human resources trained to utilize that infrastructure well, and institutions supporting their work. The infrastructure will not be simple nor cheap; it will include satellite remote sensing and communications capabilities, computer facilities covering a broad range of computer power alternatives, as well as an appropriate communications infrastructure.

The Digital Divide can thus be seen to be the result of a myriad of digital divides affecting all parts of society, including:
· The lack of ICT access of the poor themselves;
· The lack of ICT access of those whose work involves the direct provision of goods and services to the poor; and
· The lack of ICT access of all those others in the society whose work indirectly affects the poor.
James has done a great service to produce a book promoting solutions, technological and other, to the problem of universal access for the poor. He would have done still better to call attention as well to the problem of developing an overall infrastructure and approach appropriate to the needs of the poor.