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Issue: Digital Divide
Digital Divide refers to the disparity between social, ethnic, racial, and economic sectors of society that are fully enabled online versus those which have been systematically neglected by the online revolution.

Here are some resources, including media coverage and links to organizations and related publications about digital divide issues. More general information about other online policy issues is available from the Issues list in the right column of most pages on this site.

Media Coverage

DISconnected: The Social Cost of Digital Exclusion
This digital divide story focuses on an October 2000 U.S. Department of Commerce study and responses from Will Doherty, Online Policy Group Executive Director, and representatives of other organizations, ggu: the Magazine of Golden Gate University, Spring 2001

Initiative Brings Internet to Gaeltacht Regions
Five mobile Internet access units will be travelling around Ireland to 80 different locations, to give people, who haven't previously used new technology, a chance to use PCs and the Internet for the first time, ElectricNews.net, November 21, 2000, (thanks to The Net for the reference)

The Standard logo
Report: Digital Divide Widens
The U.S. Commerce Department says minorities are gaining access at a quick pace but lag behind the national average, The Standard, October 16, 2000.

First Monday logo
Overcoming Regulatory and Technological Challenges To Bring Internet Access To a Sparsely Populated, Remote Area
Excellent case study documenting establishment of Internet connectivity in rural South Africa communities, First Monday, October 2000.

Lack of Net Savvy Seen as Tomorrow's Illiteracy
Government tax credits for providing Web service to employees and telecommuting are being recommended by researchers as a way to prevent the "functional illiteracy" of 50 million Americans without Net access. Gartner Group CEO Michael Fleisher told a House subcommittee Monday that 50 percent of U.S. households now have Internet access, and by 2005, he projects 75 percent of U.S. households will be connected. But despite a booming economy, lower cost PCs and phenomenal growth in the Internet, there is still a strong digital divide in the United States. "This will be the equivalent of having the moderate and upper classes in IMAX theaters while the underprivileged are still watching silent movies," he said. "The fate of the 50 million adults who will suddenly find themselves functionally `illiterate' in the new economy is an issue of profound importance," he warned, InfoBeat, October 2, 2000.

Nielsen Says Affluent Spend Less Time Online
People with lower incomes, education, and blue-collar professions spend, on average, more time online at home than those with higher incomes, education and white-collar jobs, according to research released by Nielsen/NetRatings (NTRT) The conclusion resulted from an analysis of the market research firm's partnership with Claritas Inc., a firm which measures consumer behavior among hundreds of demographic groups to determine varying lifestyles. "Those with less income, education and hourly wages tend to spend more time surfing the Web at home," said Peggy O'Neill, group manager and senior analyst at NetRatings. "Our data show that this group comprises mostly blue-collar workers, who may not have as great an opportunity to use the Internet during the day at work compared to office workers. So it's likely that most of their Web surfing has to be done at home.", InfoBeat, September 22, 2000.

USA Today logo
Internships Close Silicon Valley's Divide
East Palo Alto high school internship program to bridge digital divide, USA Today, August 16, 2000.

USA Today logo
Digital Divide Leaves City and Country Behind
If you live in the burbs, chances are you're much more wired than your city- and country-dwelling cousins. That's the conclusion of a joint survey on attitudes and use of technology among U.S. residents. USA Today, June 6, 2000.

NCLIS logo
Public Libraries and the Internet 2000
The 2000 national survey of public library outlet Internet connectivity (in Adobe PDF format); a report based on research sponsored by the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science and conducted by John Carlo Bertot and Charles R. McClure, September 7, 2000.

The Art of Tricknology
"Saying that the Digital Divide is closing because minorities have greater access to them is like saying minorities have a stake in the automobile industry because they drive cars, or that they are Bill Gates because they own Microsoft Office 2000", BlackEngineer.com, June 2000

NCLIS logo
Moving toward More Effective Public Internet Access
The 1998 national survey of public library outlet Internet connectivity (in Adobe PDF format); a report based on research sponsored by the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science and the American Library Association and conducted by John Carlo Bertot and Charles R. McClure, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1999.

Bridging the Digital Divide: The Impact of Race on Computer Access and Internet Use
A seminal study about the impact of the digital divide on African Americans, by Thomas P. Novak and Donna L. Hoffman of Project 2000, Vanderbilt University, February 2, 1998.

Organizations and Related Publications

Closing the Digital Divide
The Clinton Administration's Digital Divide Web site, a comprehensive clearinghouse for information about the Administration's efforts to provide all Americans with access to the Internet and other information technologies that are crucial to their economic growth and personal advancement.

Community Technology Centers' Network
A network of more than 400 community technology centers where people get access to computers and computer-related technology, such as the Internet.

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Issues

Online Access
Online Privacy
Digital Defamation
Digital Divide
Online Community
Diversity of Content
Online Commercialism
Electronic Electorate
Privacy Policy
Site Accessibility
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