Bridging the digital divide in the G20: Skills for the new age

Krish Chetty, Urvashi Aneja, Vidisha Mishra, Nozibele Gcora and Jaya Josie

No 2017-68, Economics Discussion Papers from Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel)

Abstract: The digital divide in general, and between women and men in particular, is a manifestation of exclusion, poverty and inequality, and is likely to continue because of the effects of unemployment, poorly functioning digital skilling programmes and socio-cultural norms in some economies, and further depriving women equal access to digital services. Digital skills provide the poor a catalyst to break out of the cycle of poverty and empower themselves. This paper considers a three-pronged digital skills strategy that will be required for developing countries to break out of the digital divide trap: (1) Monitor the evolving set of digital skills required for employment (2) incorporate a holistic digital skills development strategy into national education programmes, and (3) contextualize skilling programs within prevailing socio-cultural norms that will shape the uptake and impact of digital skilling programs.

Keywords: Digital skills; digital divide; digitalization; information literacy; computer literacy; media literacy; communication literacy; technology literacy; socio-cultural norms (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C83 F63 F66 F68 I24 I25 J20 J22 J23 J24 O15 O19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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