Bridging the digital divide: a collaborative effort
At a recent Funzi Mobile Talks event on Sustainable Development Goals, digitalization, and learning, panelists focused heavily on the digital divide and its effects on digital learning. They spoke of the high cost of data in South Africa and the growing division between those with and without access to the internet and digital devices in Tanzania. Everyone agreed that bridging the digital divide is critical. And digital learning, while a real benefit to those who have access to digital information, provides some real challenges to those who don’t.
But what exactly is the digital divide? How big of a problem is it? What steps are being taken to get past it? And what role does Funzi play? Let's explore each of these questions in turn.
What is the digital divide?
In a United Nations article on bridging the digital divide, Andreaa Stoiciue defined the digital divide as “the different amount of information between those individuals who have access to the information society and information and communication technologies (ICTs) and those who do not.” Those without access to the internet and ICTs are disadvantaged because they are less able to get information, shop online, learn new skills, and offer their skills to others.
According to Stoiciue, this technological gap results from imbalances in:
the knowledge and understanding of technology
access to internet infrastructure and devices
the cost and affordability of data and ICTs
equality in income, race, gender, or some other criteria
This gap is usually not an either/or situation but falls along a scale. Take phones as an example. Most of the world has one, but there are huge differences between what you can achieve on an older feature phone and a smartphone. Furthermore, huge differences exist within the smartphone category - most importantly, in differences in processing power and screen size, and quality. In practice, this means that many cheap smartphones can’t run apps or even websites in a way that is functional or enjoyable to the user. The end result is that those without high-end phones suffer.
The same basic idea applies to the speeds of mobile networks in different countries. Countries who use the slower 2G and 3G networks, and are slow to adopt 4G and 5G, will increasingly find themselves at a technological disadvantage. Emerging countries, in particular, are slow to adopt new generations of mobile networks.
Certain areas - whether it be countries, cities, or regions - provide more ICT accessibility and greater equality of opportunity than others. This not only leads to higher benefits for those living within the areas of ICT accessibility, but it increases the knowledge and income gap of those living in less developed regions. This is the essence of the digital divide.
How big of a problem is it?
Though digital technology is moving ahead at a fast pace, it’s not happening evenly around the world. According to the Digital Economy Report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, around 60 percent of the world is now online. In emerging countries, however, only one in five people are online.
The news regarding mobile phone use in emerging countries is more optimistic, though mixed signals still exist. The number of unique mobile subscribers in Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, is expected to jump from 477 million in 2019 to 614 million in 2025. In addition, the number of mobile internet users will grow from 272 million in 2019 to 475 million in 2025. This is all good news. The downside is that, as a percentage of the population, these figures are much lower than those of, for example, North America and Europe.
One huge problem arises when you look at the mobile data costs in every country. The three most expensive data costs per 1 Gigabyte are all in Africa:
Malawi (US ＄27.41/ 1GB)
Benin (US＄27.22 / 1GB)
Chad (US＄23.33 / 1 GB)
Compare that to the data costs of the three cheapest countries:
India (US＄0.09/ 1GB)
Israel (US＄0.11/ 1GB)
Kyrgyzstan (US＄0.21/ 1GB)
For some perspective on what a major issue this is, take the average yearly income per person for the countries which are second on the lists above. Israel has an average income of around US＄38,000 while Benin’s is around US＄1,100. Despite this large income gap, people from Benin pay nearly 250 times more for their data. It’s easy to see how hesitant the Beninese people would be to access information online.
Professor Samuel John of Namibia University of Science and Technology addressed this fact in the Funzi Mobile Talks event: “In general, the cost of data is one of the biggest inhibitors - instead of it being an enabler - because data is the enabler for mobile learning, for online learning, but it is now inhibiting countries where data is so so expensive.”
What steps are being taken?
Efforts to get past the digital divide are happening, sometimes jointly, at the international, national, and company levels. The United Nations, for instance, has joined together with governments, the private sector, international organizations, and other stakeholders to create the Roadmap for Digital Cooperation. Two of the roadmap’s main goals are to ensure digital inclusion for all and to achieve universal connectivity by 2030. UNESCO and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) are also working toward universal connectivity through their Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development. More recently, UNICEF and the ITU started the Giga Initiative with the aim of connecting every school to the internet.
On a national level, the Digital India Program aims to ‘transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy’. The program’s goal is to get every citizen online and empower them through digital literacy, digital resources, and collaborative digital platforms. Many other countries, such as Indonesia and Uganda, have set up their own Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) strategies to enable digital savvy and connected societies.
Finally, the private sector is also playing a critical role. Space X’s Starlink satellite internet network provides satellite internet access to most of the areas on the Earth, including those without previous access. Google’s Next Billion Users initiative conducts research and builds products to promote digital equity and help novice internet users. Smaller companies, too, are in on the action. Funzi, as an example, has developed a learning platform with digital equity front and center.
How does Funzi contribute?
To meet the needs of those who use low-end devices, pay a lot for data, and won’t have access to 4G and 5G networks anytime soon, we need to employ robust technologies - in other words, technologies that are already well-established and readily available.
This is where Funzi comes in. Funzi uses the robust technology of the mobile web to reach people at the margins. This means that Funzi’s courses are available nearly anywhere in the world, work on any device (including feature phones and lower-end smartphones), can be viewed on any type of screen, and function on any network 2G or above.
And those high data prices? Unlike video courses or many online learning platforms, Funzi courses consume a significantly low amount of data. And many are surprised at just how low. For example, a typical Funzi course has approximately the same amount of content as a short book and usually contains three to six topics (which are similar to the chapters of a book). These topics consume about 2 megabytes of data - roughly the same as one news article on the BBC website. This means that an entire Funzi course consumes the same amount of data as three to six BBC articles!
This model allows Funzi to partner up with organizations that focus on bettering the lives of those without easy access to learning. Take YOTA in Ghana or Zimba Women in Uganda as two examples. Using Funzi courses, YOTA is teaching career advancement and job search skills to the youth of Ghana. Zimba Women uses Funzi’s Founder 101 course to prepare young female entrepreneurs to start businesses where they would have the greatest social impact.
Creating digital equity is a collective effort. Whether it be international efforts led by the UN, the initiatives of IT giants like Google, or the business and learning models of edtech companies like Funzi, we all stand to benefit when everyone has equal opportunity to harness the power and education possibilities of the digital age.
