Technological Disparity

1
Technological Disparity
2
Internet Proliferation

• The distribution of Internet infrastructure
  worldwide does not match population density.
• There are two distinct causes for this
• Cost
• Industrialized Expansion

Source www.virtualtravelog.net
3
The Value Of The Internet

• The Internet as an Educational Tool
• The Internet Global Economy
• Journalistic and Scientific Communication
• Rapid Worldwide News Sources
• Areas without Internet Access are deprived of
  these assets.

4
Case Study South Korea vs Nigeria

• South Korea is the 10th largest national economy
  in the world.
• Their economy is at least partially related to a
  massive investment in a high-speed Internet
  infrastructure. It currently is a world leader in
  broadband Internet connectivity.
• There are at least 31 million Internet users in
  South Korea.
• Nigeria, on the other hand, is a state whose
  economy is based almost entirely on the export of
  oil.
• Their Internet architecture is based around
  Internet cafes connected through European
  Internet connections. There are only 100,000
  Internet users in Nigeria, while its population
  is two and a half times larger than South
  Korea's.
• By far, the more robust economy is South Korea

5
Downsides to Internet Access

• Intellectual property theft
• Scams
• Virii
• Big Brother issues

6
Moral Issues

• The Internet is the most extensive collection of
  information in human history. Do developed
  nations have a responsibility to encourage and
  subsidize universal access to the Internet?
• Is applying Internet technology to every nation
  appropriate?
• To what extent should Internet technologies be
  extended to the developing world?

7
Sources

• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_digital_divide
  
• http//www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,44012,00
  .html?twwn_story_related
• http//www.icannwatch.org/
• http//www.virtualtravelog.net/entries/2003/09/ec
  onomics_and_the_internets_largescale_topology.html
  
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/24100_laptop
• http//laptop.media.mit.edu/
• http//www.pbs.org/digitaldivide/
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ImageGVUSurveyRace.g
  if
• http//www.clickz.com/stats/sectors/geographics/ar
  ticle.php/151151
• http//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4123788.stm
• http//www.internetgovernance.org/