Hss4331a – International Health

1. Hss4331a – International Health March 22, 2010 – The Digital Divide

2. But first • Today • Course evaluation! • Tonight • Your papers are due at midnight! • The poll to choose your marking scheme will be turned off at midnight!

5. “In the twenty-first century, the capacity to communicate will almost certainly be a key human right. Eliminating the distinction between the information-rich and information-poor is also critical to eliminating economic and other inequalities between North and South, and to improve the life of all humanity.” -Nelson Mandela, TELECOM 95, October 3, 1995 (Wilson, 2004, 1)

6. The “Global” Digital Divide • Specifically refers to “great disparities in opportunity to access the Internet and the information and educational/business opportunities tied to this access … between developed and developing countries” • Lu, Ming-te (2001). Digital divide in developing countries. Journal of Global Information Technology Management (4:3), pp. 1-4.

7. Global Digital Divide • A 2002 World Economic Forum report on the global digital divide found that, "88% of all Internet users are from industrialized countries that comprise only 15% of the world's population“ • Pick, J. & Azari, R. (2008). Global Digital Divide: Influence of Socioeconomic, Governmental,and Accessibility Factors on Information Technology. Information Technology for Development, 14(2), 91-115

8. From Wikipedia

9. How is the DD relevant to health? • EBM is now essential to medical research • Access to information essential to CME • Use of e-health tools increase access to health care by remote dwellers • IT is essential for HIS • Why is HIS important?

10. Criticisms of the importance of DD • Maybe the gap is not real, but perceived • Technologies are transient, so gap will disappear anyway • As computers get smarter, the need for expertise in accessing them will reduce, so the gap becomes less important

11. The XO Laptop -- www.laptop.org

12. The XO Laptop • Brainchild of Nicholas Negroponte of MIT • Vision = 1 cheap laptop for every child in the world • Assumption = children can teach themselves how to use it • Method = consortium of top IT people • Laptop = under $200, open source, seemingly indestructible

13. The XO Laptop • Features: • Virtually indestructible (waterproof, sand proof, etc) • Open source operating system • Screen designed for outdoor use • No moving parts (solid state) • Greater range of WIFI • Easy child-friendly interface

14. The XO Laptop • Controversies • Is it reasonable that a laptop alone can uplift a child and his family? • Open source software not as useful in real world • Can it really achieve sufficient market penetration to make mass production efficient? • New competitors in the cheap laptop market

15. Kiva.org -a microfinance website

16. Kiva.org • 1st world people sign up as investors/lenders • Developing world entrepreneurs sign up as borrowers • We lend small amounts ($10 or so) to borrowers • After some time, borrower repays loan

19. Criticisms of Microfinance • “privatization of public safety net” • May motivate cuts in government spending • Businesses may become dependent on loans rather than on capital investments • Since most microfinance focuses on women, it is possible that women are used as credit “fronts” for men, while accepting all risk