RightsCon Toronto 2018

The session seeks to foster an interactive discussion amongst participants from diverse regions on the international 'digital divide' that seems to be expanding greatly with accelerating technological advancements and innovation. It seeks to highlight the uneven usage of the internet, as well as to discuss the various indicators that can be adopted to measure this inequality. The session seeks to broaden the conceptualization of digital inequality beyond issues of technological access i.e. existing numbers of subscriptions and digital devices, to disparities in the use and impact of information and communication technologies.

Access to Information Communication Technology is a necessary but insufficient condition for the internet to serve as a driver for economic equality, social mobility, democratic participation and economic growth. Other factors such as information utilization and information receptiveness must be taken into account; individuals need to know how to make use of the information and communication tools once they exist within a community. This ability is influenced by a number of demographic and socio-economic characteristics including: income, education, race, gender, geographic location (urban-rural), age, skills, awareness, political, cultural and psychological attitudes.

The session will also explore the intricate interplay between incessant technological progress and the diffusion of technology, which results in a widening digital divide. Differences in technology such as computer processors, internet speed and technical assistance all have an impact on the extensiveness of internet usage, interaction and contribution that an individual or social group can have online. In 2014, only 3 countries hosted 50% of the globally installed bandwidth potential (10 countries almost 75%). Many ‘international’ services do not work in several developing countries including electronic payment networks, music and video streaming services, and even certain social media engines. This excludes several communities from participating in, or influencing global dialogue.