Digital divide is a term that is used to refer to the gap between those who have access to the information technology and those who do not. In the context of our project, I use the term to compare the internet usage in Uganda and the United States.
Please take a look at the following charts. The first one shows the distribution of the internet usage in Uganda and the second one shows the one for the United States. Since the Invisible Children’s headquarters is located in San Diego, I included the statistics for California as well.
UGANDA:
THE UNITED STATES:
37,350,092 population (2010 Est.) - Land Area: 155,959 square miles
29,758,896 Internet users as of June/10, 79.7% of the population, per IWS.
As you can see at a glance, there is a stark digital divide between Uganda and the United States. Moreover, the statistics are for Uganda in general. The chances for an online communication with the people in Northern Uganda would be probably smaller. Hence, it is hard to say that the internet can be used as an effective means to connect the people of Northern Uganda and the highs school students who are involved in the Invisible Children’s projects. Although the internet has a power to link people around the globe, the socioeconomic environment that faces people in Northern Uganda creates a structural barrier. When civilians in the conflict zones are striving to live day by day, what difference could an access to the internet bring to their lives? If the internet is not the realistic tool, what are alternative ways to make communication possible between the people in Northern Uganda and the participants in IC’s projects or any individual who wants to hear the voice from the people in Northern Uganda? Vice versa, how would the people in Northern Uganda know about who we are and what we are doing in North America? Because communication is a two-way process, both parties need to have an equal access to the communication tool.
By the way, one of the groups in our seminar created an online survey about the Invisible Children and they sent it to Uganda. On the contrary to the reality of digital divide, apparently the group got some responses! It would be exciting to hear about their presentation tomorrow.
(Our media group will be presenting our final film in class tomorrow!)
Sources:
chart for Uganda: http://www.internetworldstats.com/af/ug.htm
chart for the U.S.: http://www.internetworldstats.com/am/us.htm
data for California: http://www.internetworldstats.com/unitedstates.htm#CA
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