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CS5038 The Electronic SocietyLecture 17: Geography of Internet and Digital DivideLecture Outline

• The Geography of the Internet• Internet users worldwide• Rate of diffusion – Internationally/Intra-nationally• Production of Internet• Why Urbanisation?• Telework• The Digital Divide• Lasting Consequences of initial divide• Gap Between Countries• Why is the Internet Widening the Divide?

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The Geography of the InternetTwo perspectives:

1. Technical geography Routers, telecommunications lines etc.

2. Geography of users

Geography of Internet users: www.zooknic.com

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Note: Asia-Pacific has 2/3 of world population, but only 23.6% of Internet users

Highest density of users:

Scandinavia

North America

Australia

South Korea

93% of world population not online

In 1999 over half the people on the planet had not made or received a telephone call – but this is changing fast

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Diffusion

Internationally: Internet is diffusing fastBUT: According to wealth, technology and power

Intra-nationally:Large cities/towns first - rural areas lag considerablyContradicts with futurologists’ image of working and living in

countrysideDivide exists in western countries, but even starker in

developing countriesIn China Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou accounted for 60%

of Chinese Internet users (Sept. 2000) While penetration for whole country was less than 2% of population

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Production of InternetUse of Internet is diffusing broadly, but not production…

Hardware/technology Producers of hardware/technological innovation

concentrated in USA/Japan

Content Top sites… pageviews in 2000:

USA 83% South Korea 5.6% UK 2.9% Germany 1.1%

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Why Urbanisation? Agricultural activities: few jobs generating little wealthMetropolitan areas: Higher value generating activities

Higher income => greater opportunity for provision of services: education, health

Human development opportunities Spillover of wealth even for those at bottom of society

Why does information age favour metropolitan concentration?? Dependence on (1) Innovation and capacity to diffuse innovation Centres of innovation appear in large metropolitan areas Milieux of innovation

milieu n : the environmental condition [syn: surroundings] [also: milieux (pl)]

Not just technological innovation but also (2) Innovation in business and financial services

(3) Cultural industries: media; entertainment; art; fashion etc. (4) Source of innovation = highly educated workers and entrepreneurs…

attracted to vibrant urban areasCentre of cultural creativity and entrepreneurial innovation

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TeleworkWhat happened to telecommuting/working from home?Survey results:

Electronic homeworking limited to 1-2 days per week and usually part time Most homeworkers still needed to commute to the office most days

Other forms of teleworking: Call centres concentrate workers with sophisticated equipment, but handle calls

from all over the world Mobile teleworking: worker in the field, with clients and partners, but keeps in

contact with office via phone and Internet Modern worker has multiple workplaces: office, train, plane, airport, hotel

NOTE: this changes the nature of work very much - it mixes with home life Firms relinquish tight hierarchical control Firms increase work extraction See PDF: "where home is the office"

General features:Traditional modes of operation often not replaced, but supplemented

Continue work at home after the day in the office Videoconference for extra interactions in addition to travelling to traditional

conferences Check prices online before going to high street shops

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The Digital Divide= Gap between those who have and those who do not have the ability to

use the technologyFacts: In 2000: 9/10 hosts in developed countries (<1/5 world population) In 2000: City of New York had more Internet hosts than the whole

continent of AfricaGap exists both within and between countries Governments try to close gap within countries by supporting

education and infrastructure Gap narrowed in US from 1998 to 2000 Exception: ethnic gap; esp. Afro-Americans

International organisations try to close gap between countries - but it is widening

Some complex issues:Are people excluded by being disconnected?

ORIs it by being connected that they become dependent on economies and

cultures which cannot give them a path to material well-being or their own cultural identities?

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The “World White Web”

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EU Statistics Office 2005Use of Internet during the first quarter of 2004:

85 percent of students 40 percent of the unemployed 13 percent of the retired

With regard to education: 77 percent with a tertiary education 52 percent with a secondary education 25 percent with a lower secondary education

In general (not just EU) Gaps in the use of ICTs depending on Age employment status educational level degree of urbanization of the area where one lives Family (single/unmarried parents => less access) Disability - vision or mobility problems

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Lasting Consequences?The gap within countries is narrowing

BUT… Rise of Internet took place in conditions of social inequality

…possible lasting consequences of initial divide Users shape the Internet to a greater extent than any

other technology First users may have shaped the Internet for latecomers –

both in terms of content and technology Recall how libertarian pioneers shaped Internet in early

days Commercial uses followed the model of consumption and

social organisation of the affluent social groups Internet may be biased towards them

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Gap Between CountriesDuring 1990s, coinciding with Internet growth, the world

experienced a substantial increase in income inequality, polarisation, poverty, social exclusion

20% of world population dispose of 86% of wealth

Overall gap in productivity, technology, income, social benefits, living standards between developed and developing world increased during 1990s

Environmental conditions deteriorated in terms of natural resources and mushrooming of cities

These cities are projected to be the home of half the population of developing countries shortly

Simultaneously increasing wealth and poverty

Why is the Internet Widening the Divide?

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Why is the Internet Widening the Divide?Dynamic, flexible global management systems and mobility of resources

Sources of value can easily be connected (increasing value for them) and disconnected (cutting the out of loop)

Education, information, science, technology more important than ever for value creation But extremely unevenly distributed e.g. telecommunications infrastructure missing – financial and

human resources to address this are missingConnection to global economy makes developing countries increasingly

vulnerable to financial crisesTraditional agriculture being eliminated => rural exodus overloading

overcrowded cities => ecological catastropheCriminal economy penetrates politics and institutions

Destabilises societies, corrupts and disorganises statesLarge scale banditry and civil wars

Internet increases ability of leaders in poor countries to extract whatever is valuable in country – marginalising unskilled masses

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Summary• The Geography of the Internet• Internet users worldwide• Rate of diffusion – Internationally/Intra-nationally• Production of Internet• Why Urbanisation?• Telework• The Digital Divide• Lasting Consequences of initial divide• Gap Between Countries• Why is the Internet Widening the Divide?