DIGITAL DIVIDE IN THE EUROPEAN UNION
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Authors:
• Radu HERMAN, Afiliation: Lecturer, Faculty of Bussines and Administration, University of Bucharest -
Keywords: digital divide, information society, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)
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Abstract:
This paper aims to demonstrate that income, education and infrastructure play a critical role in shaping the divide. The global challenge for the new millennium is to build a society where everyone can access and shareinformation. A fully integrated digital world has become a reality, and all segments of society must embrace it in order to be contributing partners to future success in the EU. As they are fast becoming an essential tool for economic activity, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) became a vital engine of economic performance. The problem, however, is that in many countries technological diffusion is obstructed by the limited capacity of networks to carry large amounts of knowledge swiftly and the limited access of individuals even to networks in which knowledge products are minimal.