Digital divide in Colombia

The digital divide in Colombia refers to inequalities between individuals, households, and other groups of different demographic and socioeconomic levels.

[1][2][3][4] The main lapse of technology and information lies in the physical access realm of things, where it is lacking tremendously.

Though internet in Colombia has made progress compared to recent years, the scholarly part of how ICTs are used are still in question.

In addition to physical access, literature review and types of internet use have also been main points of focus in regards to a solution for digital divide in Colombia.

[5] The high correlation between the use of ICTs and location in large industrial cities is one of the most visible examples of digital divide in Colombia.

One leading cause is simply because people living in rural parts of the country tend to be less educated which is negatively correlated with technology use.

Often, these rustic areas lack the technology and internet providers needed to further bridge the digital divide between large and small cities.

In these cases change is perceived as expensive, time consuming and risky, producing sentiments that facilitate phobic, indifferent or stereotyped attitudes towards technology".

Societies involving research and development often require skill in many different areas with products whose value is highly regarded.

Both the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the products creates a need for enhanced work material, which often is the latest and fastest technology.

If the technological system adopted by the community is inconsistent or non-competitive, the host is limited by these gaps and builds and inefficient technical rationality.

[disputed – discuss] The general population of Colombia perceives the internet as not useful and the purchasing power of Colombians is limited.

The problem is not just the access to tools; it includes the construction of a compatible social, cultural and economic logic (Avgerou, 2003), that, due to the resistance to change from some of the local stakeholders, turns into a complex and slow process.

Areas of Colombia where poor educational infrastructure is combined with an economy focused on natural resources and its exploitation, are areas with school systems that focus on technical training concerning the production of basic goods rather than long term knowledge and innovation skills.

In regards to higher education and universities in Colombia information technology infrastructure is growing at an alarming rate.

In 2010, President Juan Manuel Santos launched Vive Digital, a government initiative aimed to create jobs, improve economic growth and development, and—most importantly—reduce poverty.

Another initiative the Colombian government has served the people of Colombia with is the National Broadband Policy of the Ministerio de Tecnologías de la Información y las Comunicaciones (Ministry of Information Technology and Communications) which has increased the percentage of Colombian municipalities connected to the Internet from 17 percent in 2010 to 96 percent today.

Researchers are focusing on the wide spectrum of how information is being spread, whether it is via internet, digital broadcast, mobile communication, or social media networks.