Digital and Participation divide

Context

1. Basic infrastructural and logistic problems like power supply, connectivity and lack of physical access that hinder the growth of the Internet.

2. Existing and new forms of divides that are exacerbated or arise from Internet related technologies. For example - caste, class, gender, language, literacy and disability.

3. The high cost of technologies, shortage of suitable human resource and lack of a good support eco-system.

4. Large number of languages in use makes it difficult to ensure equal and unhindered access to digital resources.

Research Agenda

1. Analyse the various barriers to access faced by developing countries and gauge the extent to which they hinder participation of various segments of society?

2. Monitor state of connectivity in different parts of India and document tried and tested best-practices and affordable/appropriate technologies for different rural and remote environments.

3. Investigating the factors responsible for the varying degrees and quality of digital participation amongst different sections of society, such as students, women, distinct religious and ethnic groups, disabled groups, illiterate persons, elderly persons and so on

4. Analyse the linguistic dimension of digital and participation divide in India and evaluating systems and content based on Indic languages.

5. Monitor and track nascent Internet based technologies which could contribute significantly improving access and participation in the Information Society. Identify potential or existing barriers and problems that accompany these new technologies.

6. Extending Dana Boyd’s work and trying to extrapolate it in the Indian context; examining how factors such as caste, class, religion, gender, economic status and disability affect or shape discussions on various social networking sites, blogosphere, mailing lists and discussion forums and studying inter and intra community interaction over the net.

7. Studying the role of ICT in shaping the new generation and new culture resulting from digital interaction.

8. Exploring resources which would enhance participation in various areas, such as the increased availability of e-material (including both quantitative and qualitative increase) for ensuring more participation from the student and academic community.

9. Documenting the role played by cybercafés especially in villages, small towns and district headquarters in increasing participation and local content generation.

Intervention Agenda

1. Support initiatives that give voice to the disempowered by providing scholarships to bloggers and other participants in Web 2.0 technologies. Examples include: Cyber Mohalla, Wikipedia, and Rising Voices.

2. Work with Universities, libraries and academic institutions for the creation of digital libraries, institutional repositories, and digitization facilities.

3. Organize and support BarCamps, face-to-face conferences, and bloggers’ meetings to discuss and address different participation divides.

4. Support institutions like the NAB which work towards facilitating computer access for disadvantaged sections of society. 

Resources

1. The New Digital Divide - Media Literacy

2. The Participation Divide: Content creation and sharing in the digital age

3. Americans Digitally and Politically Divided: Can Limited Skills and Unequal Access to Information and Communications Technology

4. Danah Boyd's Publications

5. Berkman Centre - Digital Divide Archive

6. Women in the knowledge society

7. Garbage is an analog concept - The Participation Divide