Keywords
digital divide
regional disparities
Türkiye
How to Cite
Abstract
Technological advancement has not been equally distributed. It has differed from country to country, region to region, and even among individuals. As a result, the digital divide has emerged as an umbrella term to represent these disparities. Recently, the research focus has shifted to the outcomes of information and communication technology usage or tangible benefits (the third-level digital divide). As an emerging economy, Türkiye must overcome the digital divide to maximise tangible benefits. Thus, this research starts by determining the digital divide indicators for Türkiye and goes further to examine the digital divide between regions in Türkiye. The main aim is to present a comprehensive index for the regional scale that is currently missing in the literature. To do so, this research starts with exploring the digital divide indicators. Then, with the help of principal component analysis (PCA), a new index is formulated for Türkiye. The result maps indicate digital inequalities both at regional and city scales, yet inequalities are more remarkable at the city scale. Increasing the diversity of technology usage, focusing on gender equality, expanding R&D expenditures, and supporting initiatives, especially ICT initiatives, will assist Türkiye in reducing digital inequalities.
Funding
This study is based on Gulfiye Ozcan Alp’s doctoral dissertation entitled, ‘A Search for A Smart Sustainable City: Overcoming Digital Divide’ supervised by Prof. Dr. Tuzin Baycan and supported by the 100/2000 CoHE Doctoral program. Earlier versions of this study were pre- sented at the 21st National Regional Science and Planning Congress, Türkiye, Gazi University, Ankara, 26–28 May, 2022.
References
Billon M., Marco R., Lera-Lopez F., 2009. Disparities in ICT adoption: A multidimensional approach to study the cross-country digital divide. Telecommunications Policy 33(10-11): 596-610. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2009.08.006
Bory P., Benecchi E., Balbi G., 2016. How the Web was told: Continuity and change in the founding fathers’ narratives on the origins of the World Wide Web. New Media & Society 18(7): 1066-1087. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444816643788
Correa T., Pavez I., Contreras J., 2020. Digital inclusion through mobile phones? A comparison between mobile-only and computer users in internet access, skills and use. Information, Communication & Society 23(7): 1074-1091. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2018.1555270
Dewan S., Kraemer K.L., 2000. Information technology and productivity: Preliminary evidence from country-level data. Management Science 46(4): 548-562. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.46.4.548.12057
DiMaggio P., Hargittai E., 2001. From the ‘digital divide’ to ‘digital inequality’: Studying Internet use as penetration increases. Princeton: Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University 4(1): 4-2.
DiMaggio P., Bonikowski B., 2008. Make money surfing the web? The impact of Internet use on the earnings of US workers. American Sociological Review 73(2): 227-250. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/000312240807300203
EU, 2018. Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) 2018. European Commission, Brussels.
EU, 2021. Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) 2021, Methodological Note: European Commission, Brussels.
Eurostat, 2019. Digital economy and society glossary. Eurostat Statistics explained. Online: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Glossary:Digital_divide (accessed June 2022).
Gonzales A., 2016. The contemporary US digital divide: From initial access to technology maintenance. Information, Communication & Society 19(2): 234-248. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2015.1050438
Graham S., 2002. Bridging urban digital divides? Urban polarisation and information and communications technologies (ICTs). Urban Studies 39(1): 33-56. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00420980220099050
Grishchenko N., 2020. The gap not only closes: Resistance and reverse shifts in the digital divide in Russia. Telecommunications Policy 44(8): 102004. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2020.102004
Guz T., 2019. Information and communication technologies development index: Regional analysis of Turkey. Journal of Management Marketing and Logistics 6(3): 128-135. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17261/Pressacademia.2019.1126
Holley L.M., 2005. Bridging the global digital divide. Information Technology for Development 11(2): 199-202. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/itdj.20012
ITU, 2009. Measuring the Information Society Report – The ICT Development Index. Geneva.
ITU, 2017. Measuring the Information Society Report. International Telecommunication Union, Geneva.
Jackson K., 2018. A brief history of the smartphone: How much do you know about how smartphones evolved? Online: https://sciencenode.org/feature/How%20did%20smartphones%20evolve.php (accessed January 2022).
Kling R., 2000. Social informatics: A new perspective on social research about information and communication technologies. Prometheus: Critical Studies in Innovation 18(3): 245-264. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/713692067
Koramaz T.K., Nasrollahzade S., Ozdemir Z., 2019. Spatial pattern of digital divide in Turkey. Proceedings of REAL CORP: 685-691.
Lythreatis S., Kumar Singh S., El-Kassar A.-N., 2022. The digital divide: A review and future research agenda. Technological Forecasting & Social Change 175(121359): 1-11. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2021.121359
Ministry of National Education (MEB), 2020. National Education Statistics, Formal Education. Online: https://www.meb.gov.tr/turkiye-uzaktan-egitim-istatistikleriyle-dijital-dunyanin-listelerini-zorladi/haber/21158/tr (accessed June 2020)
NTIA, 1995. Falling through the net: A survey of the “Have Nots” in rural and urban America. Online: https://www.ntia.gov/page/falling-through-net-survey-have-nots-rural-and-urban-america (accessed March 2021).
NTIA, 1999. Falling through the net: Defining the digital divide. Online: https://www.ntia.gov/report/1999/falling-through-net-defining-digital-divide (accessed March 2021).
OECD, 2020a. Learning remotely when schools close: How well are students and schools prepared? Insights from PISA. Online: https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/view/?ref=127_127063-iiwm328658&title=Learning-remotely-when-schools-close (accessed January 2020).
OECD, 2020b. OECD regions and cities at a glance 2020. OECD Publishing, Paris.
OECD, 2020c. Digitalization and innovation. Online: https://www.oecd.org/g20/topics/digitalisation-and-innovation/ (accessed January 2022).
OECD, 2021a. Going Digital Toolkit. Online: https://goingdigital.oecd.org (accessed March 2022).
OECD, 2021b. OECD Employment Outlook 2021: Navigating the COVID-19 Crisis and Recovery. OECD Publishing, Paris.
OECD, 2021c. SME digitalisation to “Build Back Better”: Digital for SMEs (D4SME) policy paper. OECD SME and Entrepreneurship Papers 31.
Ozcan Alp G., Baycan T., 2024. Digital divide reflections on regional development disparities in Türkiye. Information technology for development [forthcoming].
Singer H.W., 1970. Dualism revisited: A new approach to the problems of the dual society in developing countries. The Journal of Development Studies 7(1): 60-75. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00220387008421348
Scheerder A., van Deursen A., van Dijk J., 2017. Determinants of Internet skills, uses and outcomes. A systematic review of the second- and third-level digital divide. Telematics and Informatics 34: 1607-1624. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2017.07.007
Scopus, 2022. Analyze search results. Online: https://www.scopus.com/term/analyzer.uri?sid=260c224b124ac5d9fa2fbdafac541b42&origin=resultslist&src=s&s=TITLE-ABS-KEY%28”digital+divide”%29&sort=cp-f&sdt=b&sot=b&sl=31&count=7896&analyzeResults=Analyze+results&txGid=c05d73322890896fbfd775055141eff5 (accessed January 2022).
Shakina E., Parshakov P., Alsufiev A., 2021. Rethinking the corporate digital divide: The complementarity of technologies and the demand for digital skills. Technological Forecasting and Social Change 162 (120405): 1-16. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120405
Statista, 2021. https://www.statista.com. Online: https://www.statista.com/statistics/617136/digital-population-worldwide/ (accessed January 2022).
Statista, 2022. Global digital population worldwide. Online: https://www.statista.com/statistics/617136/digital-population-worldwide/ (accessed January 2022).
Stump R., Gong W., Li Z., 2008. Exploring the digital divide in mobile-phone adoption levels across countries: Do population socioeconomic traits operate in the same manner as their individual-level demographic counterparts? Journal of Macromarketing 28(4): 397-412. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0276146708325386
Szeles M.R., 2018. New insights from a multilevel approach to the regional digital divide in the European Union. Telecommunications Policy 42(6): 452-463. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2018.03.007
Supporting Research, Development and Design Activities, 2008. Law No. 5746. Online: https://www.resmigazete.gov.tr/eskiler/2016/08/20160810-7.htm (accessed January 2022).
Technology Development Zones, 2001. Law No. 4691. Online: https://www.resmigazete.gov.tr/eskiler/2014/03/20140312-2.htm (accessed January 2022).
The World Bank, 2020. Urban Development Home. Online: https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/urbandevelopment/overview#1 (accessed January 2022).
The World Bank, UNESCO, UNICEF, 2021. The state of the global education crisis: A path to recovery. The World Bank, UNESCO, and UNICEF, Washington D.C., Paris, New York.
TurkStat, 2021. Hanehalkı Bilişim Teknolojileri (BT) Kullanım Araştırması (Survey on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) usage in households and by individuals). Online: https://data.tuik.gov.tr/Bulten/Index?p=Hanehalki-Bilisim-Teknolojileri-(BT)-Kullanim-Arastirmasi-2021-37437 (accessed 2022 March).
UN, 2015. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Online: https://sdgs.un.org/goals (accessed September 2021).
van Deursen A.J., van Dijk J.A., 2018. The first-level digital divide shifts from inequalities in physical access to inequalities in material access. New Media & Society, September, 2019(21(2)):354-375. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444818797082
van Deursen A.J., Helsper E.J., 2015. The third-level digital divide: Who benefits most from being online? Communication and Information Technologies Annual: Digital Distinctions and Inequalities Studies in Media and Communications 10: 29-53. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/S2050-206020150000010002
van Dijk J.A., 2020. Closing the digital divide: The role of digital technologies on social development, well-being of all and the approach of the COVID-19 pandemic. Virtual Expert Group UN Meeting on Socially just transition towards sustainable development: The role of digital technologies on social development and well-being of all.
van Dijk J.A., 2005. The deepening divide. SAGE, Thousand Oaks.
Vicente M.R., López A.J., 2011. Assessing the regional digital divide across the European Union-27. Telecommunications Policy 35(3): 220-237. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2010.12.013
Warschauer M., 2003. Technology and social inclusion: Rethinking the digital divide. MIT Press, Cambridge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/6699.001.0001
Warschauer M., 2011. A literacy approach to the digital divide. Cadernos de Letras 28: 5-19.
Wei K.K., Teo H.H., Chan H.C., Tan B.C., 2011. Conceptualizing and testing a social cognitive model of the digital divide. Information Systems Research 22(1): 170-187. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.1090.0273
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Gülfiye Özcan Alp, Tüzin Baycan
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.