The International Divide: A look at Sub-Saharan Africa and India
The digital divide exists internationally on a much more basic level than it does within the United States, or in other highly “wired” countries like Sweden and Australia.6/ The vast majority of other countries, especially non-Western countries, lack the infrastructure that must exist before the Internet comes into use. Many countries simply do not have an adequate network of telephone lines and enough computers to support Internet use. In fact, it seems almost ridiculous to speak about the digital divide with regard to these countries, since they lack basic necessities like food and water, and do not have high enough literacy rates to be able to use the Internet on a large scale. Nonetheless, it may be useful for future reference to explore the current state of Internet communications in these countries.
Some scholars believe that the technology gap between rich and poor countries, often referred to as the “Global North” and the “Global South,” could possibly be shortened. They further believe that, ideally, once developing countries have access to the Internet, they will quickly realize many other benefits because the Internet provides cheap and fast information that could aid in health care, education, and other areas. 7/ However, many international organizations warn that the information technology gap is only widening, and providing greater economic benefits to already-wealthy nations. The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) points out that the digital divide can only grow when most of the world’s population lacks telephone access and is far from having access to a computer. 8/
The nations of Sub-Saharan Africa are a focal point in the international dialogue about the technological development of the Global South. The state of information technology in this region provides good examples of the difficulties faced by many other nations in getting online. These countries face not only economic problems, but also political ones, as their governments are often unresponsive to the needs of their populations, who often face famine and drought. It is important to note that information starvation is linked to food starvation; as economist Amartya Sen points out, “no substantial famine has ever occurred in a democratic and independent country, no matter how poor.”9/ Even the postal services in African countries are unreliable, so there is often no means of long-distance communication.10/
People in the United States may not fully grasp the magnitude of the communications difficulties in Africa (excluding the relatively more advanced South Africa). To illustrate the problem, here are some startling statistics: In 1996 the United States had 640 telephone lines and 442 Internet hosts per 1000 people. Chad had only one phone line and no internet hosts per 1000 people, and the waiting time even to get a telephone line was three years.11/ [b1]Currently, there are only three computers per 1000 people. However, one major factor could increase the speed with which people in Africa gain access. Africans are used to sharing information resources (such as newspapers and especially televisions among) large numbers of people. A single public Internet booth, then, would provide access to a many people.
India is a good example of a country that lies somewhere in the middle of the range of technological advancement and Internet usage. It has gained a great deal of access due to the recent growth of the high-tech industry in places like Bangalore and Hyderabad. High-tech companies provide Internet access to employees while at work and often help them get it in their homes. The public is increasingly using public “Internet cafes” for e-mail and browsing the World Wide Web.
These developments were possible because India already had a large population of literate and even highly educated people (this does not represent the majority, but it is a very large number due to India’s high population). It also had a more substantial network of telephone lines, with fifteen lines per 1000 people in 1996 12/. India has an advantage in terms of getting communications technologies quickly, because U.S. high-tech companies are highly interested in making India more “wired”. Technology companies based in the United States import thousands of skilled workers from India every year. These workers work for less than their American counterparts, but it is even cheaper for companies to build branches in India and pay Indian wages to workers there. This means that the companies must ensure that their workers in India have access to the same files as their workers in America, and that the system that is used for this is highly reliable. This requires some investment in the technological infrastructure of India.
However, while such investment reduces the technology gap between India and the West, it widens the digital divide within India. India’s technology boom has provided Internet access and other benefits to its upper and middle classes. The vast majority of Indians are poor and illiterate, and receive no benefit from foreign high-tech investment. Until they have access to basic education, the Internet is useless to them.
Non-western countries face some common problems, besides a simple lack financial strength, in getting and using communications technology. There is also a linguistic divide. As of now, most Internet content is written in English, so people (however literate they may be in other languages) need to know English to use most of the web. Some sites are translatable, but the translations are not reliably good, nor are most non-Western languages available. Written languages using non-Western characters require special software to allow them to be typed on most computers, so they are not widely used online. One exception is newspapers, which are scanned and put online from all parts of the world. These are available in a great number of languages, and increase information access to those not literate in English.
Another problem many countries face in getting access to information technology is that they have non-democratic governments that do not wish to have an informed public that could cause them trouble. Other countries fear Western (specifically American) influence on their culture and values. [b2] For the same reasons that a country might ban certain books, movies, or other media, it would certainly be interested in restricting access to the Internet. Clearly, the international divide is a complex one, caused by economic, political, and social factors.