DIGITAL DIVIDE


DIGITAL DIVIDE:

The digital divide is a term that refers to the gap between demographics and regions that have access to modern information and communications technology (ICT), and those that don't or have restricted access. This technology can include the telephone, television, personal computers, and internet connectivity. The digital divide creates a division and inequality around access to information and resources. Simply put, it is the gap between those with Internet access and those without it.

DIGITAL DIVIDE IN PAKISTAN:

Although access to digital services is improving in Pakistan, only 36.5 percent of its people use the internet. Figures reveal that 144.4 million people in Pakistan did not use the internet at the start of 2022, meaning that 63.5 percent of the population remained offline at the beginning of the year.

This digital divide in Pakistan is due to several reasons such as gender inequality and geography:

In Pakistan;

·        Only 50 % of women own a mobile phone compared with 81 % of men. This is equivalent to 22 million fewer women than men owning a mobile phone

·        Women in Pakistan are 49 % less likely to use mobile internet than men, which translates into 12 million fewer women than men using mobile internet.

·        For an estimated 11 million women in Pakistan, family disapproval is the key barrier to owning a mobile phone.

Internet accessibility does not follow a homogenous pattern all across Pakistan, and there remains a wide gap in the use of digital devices and related infrastructure based on geography (rural and urban). This, in turn, leads to the marginalization of certain communities of society, which reduces economic growth. The areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, as well as Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), have experienced the digital divide. The state machinery also uses this as a political tool, justified by the idea of national security. Likewise, in Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, the Special Communications Organization (SCO) maintains a monopoly over the provisions of the internet.

 IMPACT OF THIS DIGITAL DIVIDE:

·        Worsening gender discrimination

·        Barriers to education

·        Lack of communication and isolation

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