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Jeffrey James is one of the relatively few academics to have systematically taken on the topic of IT and development. In this timely book he undertakes a methodological critique of prominent topics in the debate. Challenging the existing literature by international and governmental institutions, the book looks not only at the digital divide but also at issues such as digital preparedness, leapfrogging and low-cost computers. James also raises important issues which have been largely neglected in the literature, such as the implications for poverty in developing countries and the macroeconomics of mobile phones. The book argues that benefits from IT are captured in a different form in developing as opposed to developed countries. In the latter, gains come from technology ownership and use, whereas in the former, benefits cannot be captured as much in this way because ownership is more limited. Interestingly, the author shows that developing countries have responded to this distinction with a series of local innovations which are often low-cost and pro-poor. This finding contradicts the widely held view that poor countries are unable to generate major innovations within their own borders. Accessible and clearly written, this book will be of great interest to scholars of development economics and development studies, and is relevant to both policy-makers and academics.

PurposeThis paper according to the logic of the “digital access divide--digital capability divide--digital outcome divide” aims to systematically discuss the impact of the digital divide on individual happiness in China, accounting for the variations that exist across different groups, as well as the corresponding mechanisms.Design/methodology/approachThis paper presents cross-sectional analyses of the relationship between the digital divide and individual happiness in China. The analyses are based on data from the Chinese General Social Survey 2017, which academic institutions run on the Chinese Mainland. This database contains information on respondents' Internet access, skills and consequences of use, which can measure the digital divide of Chinese individuals at three levels.FindingsFirst, individual happiness declined when they experienced the digital access divide in China. For the digital capability divide, the lower the usage skills, the more individual happiness declined. When analyzing the digital outcome divide, the greater the negative consequences, the more individual happiness declined. Second, the impacts of digital access, capability and outcome divide vary according to age, gender, education degrees, hukou, region and sub-dimensions. Third, the digital access and capability divide reduce individuals' happiness by lowering their self-rated social and economic status, whereas the digital outcome divide reduce individual happiness by lowering their fairness perception and social trust.Originality/valueThe authors believe that this is the first study to examine the impact and its variations among different groups of the three-level digital divide on individual happiness, as well as its mechanisms.

The digital divide is usually conceptualized through goods-dominant logic, where bridging the divide entails providing digital goods to disadvantaged segments of the population. This is expected to enhance their digital capabilities and thus to have a positive influence on the digital outcomes (or services) experienced. In contrast, this study is anchored in an alternative service-dominant logic and posits that viewing the divide from a service perspective might be better suited to the context of developing countries, where there is a huge divide across societal segments in accessing basic services such as healthcare and education. This research views the prevailing differences in the level of services consumed by different population segments (service divide) as the key issue to be addressed by innovative digital tools in developing countries. The study posits that information and communication technologies (ICTs) can be leveraged to bridge the service divide to enhance the capabilities of service-disadvantaged segments of society. But such service delivery requires an innovative assembly of ICT as well as non-ICT resources. Building on concepts from service-dominant logic and service science, this paper aims to understand how such service innovation efforts can be orchestrated. Specifically, adopting a process view, two Indian enterprises that have developed sustainable telemedicine healthcare service delivery models for the rural population in India are examined. The study traces the configurations of three interactional resources—knowledge, technology, and institutions—through which value-creating user-centric objectives of increasing geographical access and reducing cost are achieved. The theoretical contributions are largely associated with unearthing and understanding how the three interactional resources were orchestrated for service-centric value creation in different combinative patterns as resource exploitation, resource combination, and value reinforcement. The analysis also reveals the three distinct stages of service innovation evolution (idea and launch, infancy and early growth, and late growth and expansion), with a distinct shift in the dominant resource for each stage. Through an inductive process, the study also identifies four key enablers for successfully implementing these ICT-enabled service innovations: obsessive customer empathy, belief in the transformational power of ICT, continuous recursive learning, and efficient network orchestration.

Digital divide centers on access to various dimensions of information and communication technology (ICT) including physical access, motivation, skills, and actual usage of digital technologies. This divide tends to be even wider in the context of developing countries. Yet, there is a lack of literature on the digital divide among the faculty who teach in higher education settings. Thus, as a preliminary effort, by using a 57-item Faculty’s ICT Access (FICTA) scale, we investigated the digital inequalities (at the physical, motivational, skills, and usage levels) among Pakistani faculty in respect of their personal and positional categories. We also examined the relationship between faculty’s instructional usage of ICT and other dimensions of their ICT access. The findings revealed that there were significant differences in the faculty’s access to technology at the four levels in respect of their personal and positional categories. Further, the findings of the study shed light on the theoretical implications of the framework of successive kinds of ICT access suggested by van Dijk (The deepening divide: inequality in the information society, 2005).

Digital technologies have the potential to empower individuals with autism and their families. The COVID-19 pandemic emphasized and accelerated the drive towards technology for information, communication, training, clinical care and research, also in the autism community. However, 95% of individuals with autism live in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) where access to electricity, internet and the ever-increasing range of digital devices may be highly limited. The World Bank coined the term ‘the digital divide’ to describe the disparities in access to digital technologies between high-income and LMIC contexts. Here we evaluated the feasibility of six emerging technologies for autism spectrum disorders, and reflected on key considerations for implementation in LMIC contexts to ensure that we do not inadvertently widen the pre-existing digital divide.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to address the gender digital divide through the adoption of information and communication technologies (ICTs) by reviewing existing knowledge within the field. This paper explores the characteristics and factors contributing to the gender digital divide. To bridge the gender digital divide, it is important to understand the factors behind gender differences in ICT access and use.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, the systematic literature review was conducted in accordance with the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) approach. In total, 24 articles were selected and analysed with using PRISMA steps.FindingsDespite a significant increase in usage of the internet and other ICTs around the world, women, especially in developing countries, tend to be on the wrong side of the digital divide. The results indicate that while there are still gender differences in access to ICT in developing countries, second-level digital divide issues are more of a concern in developed countries. In the literature, several important factors have been identified as being associated with the gender digital divide. The results highlight the importance of implementable policies to bridge the gender digital divide, as well as how sociocultural factors play an important role in explaining the gender digital divide phenomenon.Originality/valueBy identifying the gender digital divide studies’ characteristics and factors contributing to the gender digital divide, the authors provide an overview of the existing research, allowing us to discuss future research needs within the field. The authors argue that more research is needed to understand how to better address the sociocultural factors affecting the gender digital divide, to understand why equal access seems not to result in equal use and, to understand the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on the gender digital divide.

Handbook on ICT in Developing Countries: Next Generation ICT Technologies is the second volume of the Handbook of ICT in Developing Countries. The first volume was on the potential implementation and service delivery of the forth-coming 5G networks. Here the focus is on the new technologies and services enabled by 5G networks or broadband Internet networks including artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning, augmented reality, Internet of Things (IoT), autonomous driving, blockchain solutions, cloud solutions etc. Some of these are already globally experiencing growth in the existing networks and all of them are expected to grow substantially in the future. Examples: currently, 5% of global organizations have fully adopted AI, but the penetration is expected to increase rapidly before 2025. IoT with 20.35 billion devices connected in 2017 is estimated to show 75.44 billion devices connected in 2025. The expected growth is based on delivering of new value to businesses and citizens. It is, however, not obvious that this growth will also occur in developing countries. Currently, the digital divide between developing countries and developed countries is widening. This is mostly due to the lack of infrastructure and low level of awareness by the businesses and citizens of the value made possible by the new technologies for developing countries. The book discusses the potentials of the new technologies for developing countries and the need for market interventions that will facilitate the demand and supply side of the market. It is designed for a broad audience including practitioners, researchers, academics, policy makers and industry players and influencers. The language and approach to the handbook is a combination of the academic writing style and professional reviews.

e-Learning is popular in various developed countries, but it is still underutilized in many developing countries. During COVID-19, when technology was utilized to overcome these obstacles in delivering education globally, e-Learning became widespread in developing nations. In turn, this promoted e-Learning in all types of educational institutions, specifically in higher-level institutions, such as universities. e-Learning has become vital to students’ learning and academic achievement. Despite the positive global impact of e-Learning, Bangladesh’s situation is quite different. Where socio-economic inequality and the digital divide are pervasive, it results in unequal learning gains and opportunities for university students. Consequently, this affects students’ academic achievements. Despite the importance of the topic, there is an existing knowledge gap. This study aims to fill the gap by investigating the effect of e-Learning on the academic achievements of university students in Bangladesh. The study utilizes a mixed methodology. A total of 275 university students participated in this study. The findings of this study demonstrated that students lack access to technological devices and digital literacy, which, in turn, has negatively affected their academic achievement in conjunction with the advancement of e-Learning. Hence, this study recommends that the government offset adverse effects to ensure students utilize e-Learning appropriately.