Spatiotemporal investigation of the digital divide, the case study of Iranian Provinces

Mohsen Roohani Qadikolaei (), Nader Zali () and Ali Soltani ()
Additional contact information
Mohsen Roohani Qadikolaei: University of Guilan
Nader Zali: University of Guilan
Ali Soltani: University of South Australia

Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, 2024, vol. 26, issue 1, No 35, 869-884

Abstract: Abstract Many communities and territories in developing countries experience significant gaps in access to and use of information and communication technology (ICT), which is viewed as a major impediment to socioeconomic and health-related vulnerabilities. Geographic considerations, on the other hand, as well as variations in motivation for ICT usage and technology adoption within and across nations, as well as between cultures, have exacerbated the digital divide. This paper investigates disparities in access to and utilization of ICT in 31 Iranian provinces from 2011 to 2020. The research discovers evidence that family income and the number of R&D centers affected the formation of the digital divide, albeit the degree of the split has fluctuated through time and space. This study discovered that digital inequality is associated with social exclusion throughout Iranian regions, and it went on to try to better understand the underlying issues and potential solutions. In this regard, some policy avenues are suggested for government action, particularly for marginalized socioeconomic groups, such as the provision of infrastructure, training and skill augmentation, and the easing of digital services supplied by the government or private sector.

Keywords: Digital access; Digital divide; ICT development Index; Spatiotemporal analysis; Spatial inequality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10668-022-02738-0 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:endesu:v:26:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s10668-022-02738-0

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/10668

DOI: 10.1007/s10668-022-02738-0

Access Statistics for this article

Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development is currently edited by Luc Hens

More articles in Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().