Bist, Rajender Singh(Inflibnet centre, February 8, 2007)
[more]
[less]
Abstract:
The direction and pace of development in ICT have led practically all world
economies to recognize the improvement of ICT in catalyzing economic
activity, in efficient governance, empowerment of society and bringing about
major socio-economic transformations in societies. Developing countries
like India, have, therefore, made significant investments in these
technologies and integrated the same with the development programmes
to gainfully realize the fruits of such developments to their society. However,
it is realized that this development has created a divide between the ‘have’
and the ‘have-nots’ in the form of a gap between the ‘technology empowered’
and the ‘technology excluded’ communities. It is therefore catching the
attention of governments the world over to device programmes to alleviate
this divide, called the digital divide. This paper highlights the digital divide
scenario in India, various ICT initiatives undertaken and the major
challenges and key solutions in bridging the digital divide in the Indian
context.