This paper reviews the digital divide in Western Europe, as well as policy options for combating that divide. While age, income and gender are significant predictors of the digital divide in Western Europe, geography plays a crucial role. The countries in Southern Europe have less computer and Internet penetration than their Northern European counterparts. The paper then discusses four policy o...

Introduction............................................................................................................................................................. 2 Internet and inequality, key elements of the current analysis ................................................................................. 2 Internet citizens: not a world of equals .........................................

The digital divide refers to the separation between those who have access to digital information and communications technology (ICT) and those who do not. Many believe that universal access to ICT would bring about a global community of interaction, commerce, and learning resulting in higher standards of living and improved social welfare. However, the digital divide threatens this outcome lead...

1 Digital technologies can help in expanding and democratizing knowledge by evenly spreading it between the developed core and the developing peripheries. Evidence suggests that digital technologies are in fact helping to expand knowledge, but are not succeeding in democratizing it. That is, digital technologies are helping to bridge the digital divide (narrowly defined), but are insufficient t...