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This study aims to statistically verify the links of income and education with information and communication technology (ICT) diffusion across 191 countries of the world taking into account a total of 9 indicators best representing the socio-economic variables.

Multivariate regression analysis was used as a prime method to rigorously test the relationships of income and education with ICT diffusion across 191 countries. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (V. 22) was used to analyze and predict patterns in the data.

The results support the hypotheses that income and education are positively related to ICT diffusion. The findings statistically confirm that poverty is a leading cause of digital divide worldwide.

Academic, policy and practice groups should work in collaboration to fight against digital divide. Present results also imply that digital divide shall never end but rather it can be controlled to an extent with multiple collaborative efforts.

Prior research assignments on the digital divide concentrate on exploring the links between few socio-economic and ICT variables in select few regions theoretically. The present work addresses this literature gap by developing and testing two hypotheses to statistically investigate the relationships between a broad set of socio-economic and ICT indicators.

Technology access, digital skills, and digital services are increasingly prerequisites for public life and accessing public services. The digital divide in contemporary societies matters for efforts to digitalize the welfare state. Research has already mapped individual determinants of digital exclusion and the existence of an age-related digital divide. However, far less attention has been paid to variations in digital inclusion between countries and to their potential explanations related to political systems. This study explores the influence of variations in welfare regimes on the digital divide among seniors (aged 65+) in Europe.

This article presents time-series cross-sectional analyses of the relationship between welfare state regimes and digital inclusion among seniors in European countries. The analyses are based on data from Eurostat, the World Bank, and the UN E-Government Survey.

The authors find extensive variation in the digital inclusion of citizens between welfare regimes and argue that considering regime differences improves the understanding of these variations. The findings indicate that the age-related digital divide seems to be least evident in countries with more universalistic welfare regimes and most evident in countries where seniors rely more on their families.

This is the first comparative study of the association between welfare state regimes and digital inclusion among seniors.

This paper contributes to the literature by proposing an analysis of digital inequalities in Russia that focuses on two aspects hitherto under explored: the interregionality (by comparing and contrasting eight federal districts) and the multidimensionality of digital inequalities (by taking into account the three levels of digital divide). Therefore, the aim is to address the phenomenon of digital divide in Russia by discussing the three levels of the digital divide (access / skills / benefits) in a comparative and interregional perspective.

This paper uses secondary data for its analysis, including both national (e.g. the total number of daily Internet users in Russia) and more regionalized data (related to particular federal districts of Russia). The choice of data sources was determined by an attempt to provide a detailed and multifaceted coverage of all three levels of the digital divide in Russia, which is not limited to the access problem only. For this purpose, we are using and re-elaborating various reports about the development of the Internet and ICTs in Russia prepared by national and international organizations to cover the first level of the digital divide. To shed light upon the second and third levels of the digital divide, we discuss digital literacy report (2018), the report on Internet openness index of Russian regions (2017) and the report on the digital life index of the Russian regions (2016). Finally, in the attempt to map out the key directions of the state policy aimed at decreasing digital inequality in Russia, on both federal and regional levels, we analyze the most important regional and national policy measures to foster digitalization such as the digital Russia program, the digital government program and the program of eliminating digital inequality in Russia.

We consider this study to be both a first exploration and a baseline of the three level digital divides in Russia. The paper shows how the level of socioeconomic development of the federal districts, as well as a number of objective factors (distance/isolation, urbanization level, availability of infrastructure and costs for building new infrastructure, etc.) have impact upon digitalization of the regions. As a result, several federal districts of Russia (Central, Northwestern, and, in a number of cases, Ural and Volga federal districts) more often than others take leading positions in rankings, in terms of degree of Internet penetration, audience numbers, use of e-services, etc. This correlation, however, is not universal as we will show, and some regions lacking behind in terms of access can be booming in terms of digital literacy or other factors, like it happened with the Far Eastern Federal district for example. All in all, our research showed that digital inequality in Russia is still on place and will require more time for complete elimination, even though current state and public initiatives are being actively developed.

This paper will bring to light meaningful insights into the three levels of digital divides in Russia. Based on a multilevel (three levels of digital divide) and multi-sectional approach (the interplay of different types of inequalities), this paper contributed to overall better understanding of the digital inequalities phenomenon in Russia. It also allowed for a comparative interregional perspective, which has been missing in most papers on digital inequalities in Russia so far.

Over the past few years, technology-mediated learning has established itself as a valuable pathway towards learners’ academic and social development. However, within the adoption stages of information and communications technology-enabled education, further questions have been raised in terms of equity of information literacy and learning outcomes. For the past three years, the authors have been working with one of the earliest secondary schools in New Zealand to introduce a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy. In this paper, the authors present the findings of a longitudinal investigation into the BYOD project, which offers new insights into the digital divide issues in the context of evolving teaching and learning practices across three levels, namely, digital access, digital capability and digital outcome.

This study is an empirically grounded longitudinal case research conducted over a three-year period in one secondary school in New Zealand. This research has included a number of methods, including surveys, interviews and classroom observations, to gather qualitative data from various stakeholders (teachers, students and parents).

The findings from the study of the BYOD project inform of digital divide issues in the context of evolving teaching and learning practices across formal and informal spaces. The authors explored how the BYOD policy has influenced existing divides in the learning process across three levels, namely, digital access, digital capability and digital outcome. The result sheds light on key issues affecting the learning process to contextualise factors in the three-level digital divide for the BYOD technology adoption process in classroom settings.

The study presents findings from an ongoing investigation of one secondary school, an early adopter of the BYOD policy. While the authors have followed the school for three years, more in-depth studies on how teaching and learning practices are evolving across formal and informal spaces will be further qualified in the next stages of data collection.

The study contributes to new knowledge on how digital inclusion can be supported beyond mere access to meaningful use of technology to reinforce student learning and their overall skill development.

In a converged and smart media environment, it no longer makes sense to talk only of a digital divide based on access to a platform – instead, a new “smartphone divide” is created based on a user’s ability to access and use an array of different services. Although there is an extensive literature on the digital divide in broadband access and use, zero research efforts have addressed the digital divide in mobile phone usage. Therefore, this research study aims to fill the gap in the literature by looking into new dimensions of the smartphone divide.

Data were collected from a college student sample through an online survey and some hypotheses were framed and tested for intergroup (smartphone users vs non-users) and intragroup (active smartphone users vs inactive users) differences based on access, experience and persistence of usage.

Findings are: first, smartphone users were more active online as expected. Although no significant difference was detected in the amount of time spent on social networking sites (SNSs) between smartphone users and non-users, smartphone users had more friends online and more “online-only” friends than non-users. Second, smartphone users seem to participate more actively in social and political issues than non-users do. Third, active users were adopting digital technologies faster than less active users, and active users were inclined to spend longer time on SNSs than less active users. Also, active users used more free and paid applications on their smartphones compared to less active users.

This research study aims to fill the gap in the literature by looking into new dimensions of the smartphone divide and exploring the differential usage of smartphone users in terms of usage level, awareness and usability levels, usage scope and consequential uses controlling for demographics and socioeconomic status. The ensuing pilot study validates some of speculations suggested in the previous literature.

This study, an exploratory one, aims to empirically investigate the association of national intellectual capital (NIC) with the national digital transformation readiness of the European Union's (EU’s) member states. Apart from building the conceptual model of NIC, this study explores the role of NIC dimensions in the digital divide between European countries.

Based on the literature review and the available EU statistical data and indexes, the theoretical framework and conceptual model for NIC were developed. The model explores the relation of NIC and its dimensions (human, social, structural, relational and renewable/development capital) on the readiness of European countries for digital transformation and the digital divide. Significant differences between EU countries in NIC and digital readiness were tested. Multiple linear regression was used to explore the association of each NIC dimension with digital transformation and digital divide within the EU.

Despite a positive association between all dimensions of NIC and digital transformation readiness, the proposed model of NIC was not confirmed in full. Regression analysis proved social capital and working skills, a dimension of human capital, to be the predictors of digital transformation at a national level, able to detect certain elements of digital divide between EU member states. Structural capital, knowledge and education, as dimensions of human capital, were predictors of the digital divide in terms of the integration of digital media in companies.

This research has a limited propensity for generalisation due to the lack of common measurement models in the field of NIC exploration.

This research offers policy makers an indication of the relationships between NIC and digital transformation, pointing out which dimensions of NIC should be strengthened to allow the EU to meet the challenges of digital economy and to overcome the digital divide between EU member states.

The use of digital technologies is key in creating active and informed citizens in the public sphere and productive companies and economic growth in the business sphere.

This study provides an original theoretical framework and conceptual model through which to analyse the relationship between NIC and digital transformation, which has thus far not been explored at the level of the EU. This research makes an original contribution to the empirical exploration of NIC and produces new insights in the fields of digital transformation and intellectual capital.

The purpose of this research is to show that the provision of an increasing range of remote, electronic access channels by private and public sector bodies is predicated on a critical mass of citizenry utilising such access channels. However, a major concern is that the increasing use of ICT for private and public sector transactions is seen as potentially creating a “digital divide” between those with access to technology and those who do not. This paper adapts an index of the digital divide documented in previous work and utilises this instrument to analyse the depth and breadth of this phenomenon in a UK region – Wales.

The paper discusses the construction of a “digital divide index” (DDIX) for Wales based upon the previous established work of Husing and Selhofer. The DDIX is applied to data collected as part of a major European‐wide project – UNDERSTAND.

The DDIX situates four citizen segments in terms of internet access and usage – gender, age, education and income. There are no significant digital divides evident within the Welsh region in terms of gender and income. However, there are significant digital divides in terms of age and education.

The DDIX as formulated considers a limited range of possible dimensions, both in terms of citizen groups and internet access and usage. Other possible dimensions for consideration are discussed in the paper.

Our application of a DDIX has been useful in highlighting the multi‐faceted nature of this phenomenon within a regional context. Further research is required both to refine such an important information society metric and to apply it in further domains of analysis.

The paper will be of interest both to academic researchers and policy‐makers interested in understanding and measuring the digital divide.

This paper presents a framework to measure the digital divide by considering a more comprehensive index of information and communication technology (ICT) predictors. The authors also address the conceptual and methodological problems in the digital divide field, given that its focus has been shifted from technological access to higher-order divides over the years. The proposed framework is hypothesized and tested in the context of unemployed and underemployed residents in Singapore.

Through a quantitative survey, 302 unemployed and underemployed workers were asked what ICT “access”, “usage” and “appropriation” meant to them. Factor analyses were deployed to identify the underlying, granular dimensions of ICT access, usage and appropriation.

The factor analyses revealed an interesting breakdown of the main factors of ICT access, usage and appropriation. The authors found that one's purpose for which technology is accessed, used and appropriated determines how each of the levels of ICT assets is defined. Thus, the authors propose new operational definitions for ICT access, usage and appropriation based on the analyses.

This study aims to provide a more robust measure of the digital divide from access, capabilities to outcomes. The authors hope that this framework, besides complementing current digital divide models, can be applied to different types of participants.

The purpose of this paper is to show how the digital divide has become a common metaphor originating from now nearly obsolete phrases such as “information have and have nots” and “information rich and information poor”. The article aims to focus on several dimensions of the digital divide that pertain to service as well as the responsibilities of libraries.

This article places emphasis on the role of librarians and information professionals in bridging the digital divide by indicating some aspects related to it as evidenced in the literature including its definition, aspects, factors affecting, and internet users.

Libraries are treated as one of the major social tools which can solve the information divide rooted in the digital divide and contribute to the realization of democratic society.

This article revolves around the authors' points of view. So, further studies, especially comparative research between developed and developing countries which vary in terms of digital divide rate, can help to understand the real role librarians and information professionals play.

Rethinking the digital divide, librarians must redesign and redefine their service menu for their customers through thinking functionally. They also need to review the various IT devices and information services available and examine which can be employed to present a more effective library service. In addition, policy‐makers should consider the vital role that librarians can play in the realization of knowledge‐based society and sustainable development.

This paper provides a theoretical basis for librarians to be more active and sedulous and policy‐makers to be vigilant and place much value for information sector and its professionals, particularly librarians working in various libraries.

The purpose of this paper is to examine South Korea’s digital divide policy and investigate how it Korea is one of the most networked countries in the world that has been addressing the digital divide issue since the inception of broadband.

A secondary data analysis of the National Information Society Agency’s Digital Divide Index was conducted between 2003 and 2012.

The differences in the changes in the access, skills and utilisation dimensions of the digital divide indicate that a second-level digital divide emerges as penetration increases. The gap in access has been minimised concurrently with the rapid adoption of broadband. Reduction of gaps in skills and effective uses has not followed accordingly.

Countries adopting broadband policies to achieve high connectivity can learn from this case and devise preventive policies that can overcome inequalities in skills and utilisation among digitally disadvantaged groups.

By analysing longitudinal data, this study identified an emerging second-level digital divide in a country with high broadband penetration. This has significant implications for policies aiming to narrow the digital divide and that access, skills and utilisation issues should be addressed separately.