Digital divide and golden opportunity
Mongolian society has been divided into two. There is an inequality in terms of access to the cyber world through information and communication technology and use of information and knowledge. It is called “digital divide.” As time goes by, digital divide increases economic inequality and causes disparity in social development in certain parts of the population. Therefore, governments of many countries today face the need to look at this relatively new concept and develop a special agenda to erase digital divide. Removing the divide can deliver efficient social services to everyone, increase business income, improve economic competitiveness and have a positive impact on the development of a country.
IN THE WORLD
Underdeveloped countries today cannot catch up with the development pace of the world due to their limited access to the Internet and other technologies. On the other hand, access to the Internet brings about socio-economic development and its success is heavily dependent on infrastructure development, literacy rates and on the causes of poverty in the country.The Digital Solidarity Fund (DSF) was established by the United Nations in 2005 for the purpose of overcoming the challenge of reducing the global digital divide.Information and communication companies donate one percent of their income to this fund and, in return, they are granted the right to use DSF’s logo. The DSF then uses the money to implement projects such as “One laptop per child,” which is aimed at providing laptops to school children in the least developed countries.
Companies that are aware of their social responsibilities have been implementing very efficient, long term initiatives in order to erase digital divide. For example, the company Ericsson installed communication technologies such as 3G, GPS and GSM in schools and hospitals in many African countries. Community colleges in the U.S. are being coordinated for the purpose of providing broader internet access. Half of all tuition fees for the first two years in those colleges are paid by local a budget, which allows the elders to receive an education all of their lives. It also contributes to people learning to use computers and work on common computer programs. Furthermore, having access to the Internet and other information technologies transforms people’s way of life and enables them to catch up with social development. It also gives people new friends and an active lifestyle, showing the significant impact the use of digital information has in the real world.
South Korea is ranked first in the world in terms of internet access. It is considered to be the country with the least digital divide because every home is connected to the internet and all software is in their native language. Elder people use the screen on their fridges to check their health status such as blood pressure and pulse, take advice from doctors and order missing groceries from a shop next to their home. The shop uses its wireless network to obtain information from fridges in homes and reminds owners what products they are running out of. Isolated places in the world are receiving tele-treatment and doctors are providing treatment using air waves. Substantial changes are also occurring in many fields such as health, education, library, tourism, retail sales, public services, registration of voters and entertainment including films, plays and concerts. Erasing digital divide and giving internet access to every home has become one of the most essential objectives of every country. The U.S. passed a law in 1996 in order to provide internet services to its people with a relatively cheaper price. And now, if you are carrying your phone anywhere in the U.S, you can get all kinds of social services and protect your security using your mobile phone.
MONGOLIA’S GOLDEN OPPORTUNITIES
The cyber world is providing Mongolia – a rapidly developing economy, with a literacy rate of 97 percent, with a golden opportunity to erase its digital divide promptly and resolve many of its development issues at the same time. The digital divide in Mongolia has been growing in size due to many factors such as lack of economic opportunities, location, internet accessibility and age disparity.The number of people who don’t use the internet, smartphones or computers is decreasing while those who use it to learn, develop and increase their income are growing in number. It can be said that we basically have the necessary technological conditions to connect everyone to the internet and provide them with a computer education. Mobile phone networks have already reached every soum in Mongolia. Therefore, it is time to organize training for everyone on how to use smartphones and computers. There are already laptops and mobile phones that can be charged by solar power out there. Every Mongolian home can now benefit from the fruits of the technical revolution even before they connect to electricity.
If everyone, regardless of their location (rural or urban) is granted access to the internet, labor productivity in our country will improve. A herder at home will be able to know grazing locations for their herds with the help of GPS which can be put on herder dogs or livestock. They can even tell their dogs to bring the herd home just like New Zealanders do. Also, herders will be able to see weather forecasts and properly manage natural hazards. Furthermore, herders will be able to acquire the most up-to-date information on prices of products they sell such as animal skins, meat and milk. Video calls can also be made anytime, to anywhere and with anyone.
If every single person can use the Internet, there will be less disparity in age, gender, ethnicity and education. Hundreds of thousands of people who accumulated great amounts of professional experience, but reached their retirement age, will now be able to find a suitable job to do and continue their active lifestyle. Thus, the efficiency of our abnormal labor force structure (where despite having a labor force of only one million, youths working abroad and the over 50s considered old) will improve significantly. For example, Mrs. Bazaryn Zagdaa, who learned to use a computer and the Internet after turning 70 has now written three books and picked up a travelling hobby.
When there is a reliable internet connection at all times, the data needed for thousands of reports regularly published will be able to be collected with less work and in a short period of time. It will save traveling costs, including burning fuel, which will contribute to reducing air pollution. People will also be able to get all kinds of public services from home and, eventually, they can even vote from home. It will save us the billions of tugrugs spent on vote-counting machines as well as time wasted on debating whether the election results were fair or not. If a person does not have an eyesight problem and is connected to the internet, he or she will be able to do many daily tasks from home such as making purchases, searching for jobs, using dictionaries, making inquiries, finding out locations, setting routes, getting bank services, making financial transactions, checking the weather, reading newspapers and exchanging emails. This will save everyone’s money and time and now this money and time can be directed towards other more important purposes.
HOW DO WE USE THIS OPPORTUNITY?
Why doesn’t our reformist government initiate the removal of the digital divide by defining our nation’s needs, determine the exact works to be done and set up the appropriate mechanisms to measure the overall results? Let’s stop directing our attention to petty things such as monitoring comments on websites when there is so much that has to be done in the cyber world. The world is vast and there are lots of things to accomplish. Therefore, let’s think big and act swiftly and appropriately. When providing everyone with a computer, we need to speed up the process of programming all operating systems in Mongolian. Let’s give communication companies the incentive to create a countrywide digital information network with low costs. Let’s direct investment to expanding networks and giving knowledge to people rather than listening to someone’s rhetoric. We have witnessed local government officials having video conferences. Why then, can’t the herders living in the exact same location use the internet?
Instead of holding a concert on the 100th day after its formation, the government should be reporting the results of their work such as how many families have been connected to the internet or provided with apartments and how many roads have been built or repaired. The reality is you can’t manage what you can’t measure – measurable results can only be seen.
After World War II, Park Chung Hee, the former President of South Korea, used to go up in a helicopter every day to see how the building of the Seoul-Pusan Highway was progressing. Let’s act in a likewise manner and talk about specific progress instead. What the government has actually done is much more important than how many hours they are working per day. If access to the internet in every home does not bring rapid development to the country,it will at least provide equal opportunities to every single person. Communication is a human right which can erase the digital divide. It is a significant task that must be accomplished by a democratic government.
Translated by B.AMAR
Short URL: http://ubpost.mongolnews.mn/?p=2828
IN THE WORLD
Underdeveloped countries today cannot catch up with the development pace of the world due to their limited access to the Internet and other technologies. On the other hand, access to the Internet brings about socio-economic development and its success is heavily dependent on infrastructure development, literacy rates and on the causes of poverty in the country.The Digital Solidarity Fund (DSF) was established by the United Nations in 2005 for the purpose of overcoming the challenge of reducing the global digital divide.Information and communication companies donate one percent of their income to this fund and, in return, they are granted the right to use DSF’s logo. The DSF then uses the money to implement projects such as “One laptop per child,” which is aimed at providing laptops to school children in the least developed countries.
Companies that are aware of their social responsibilities have been implementing very efficient, long term initiatives in order to erase digital divide. For example, the company Ericsson installed communication technologies such as 3G, GPS and GSM in schools and hospitals in many African countries. Community colleges in the U.S. are being coordinated for the purpose of providing broader internet access. Half of all tuition fees for the first two years in those colleges are paid by local a budget, which allows the elders to receive an education all of their lives. It also contributes to people learning to use computers and work on common computer programs. Furthermore, having access to the Internet and other information technologies transforms people’s way of life and enables them to catch up with social development. It also gives people new friends and an active lifestyle, showing the significant impact the use of digital information has in the real world.
South Korea is ranked first in the world in terms of internet access. It is considered to be the country with the least digital divide because every home is connected to the internet and all software is in their native language. Elder people use the screen on their fridges to check their health status such as blood pressure and pulse, take advice from doctors and order missing groceries from a shop next to their home. The shop uses its wireless network to obtain information from fridges in homes and reminds owners what products they are running out of. Isolated places in the world are receiving tele-treatment and doctors are providing treatment using air waves. Substantial changes are also occurring in many fields such as health, education, library, tourism, retail sales, public services, registration of voters and entertainment including films, plays and concerts. Erasing digital divide and giving internet access to every home has become one of the most essential objectives of every country. The U.S. passed a law in 1996 in order to provide internet services to its people with a relatively cheaper price. And now, if you are carrying your phone anywhere in the U.S, you can get all kinds of social services and protect your security using your mobile phone.
MONGOLIA’S GOLDEN OPPORTUNITIES
The cyber world is providing Mongolia – a rapidly developing economy, with a literacy rate of 97 percent, with a golden opportunity to erase its digital divide promptly and resolve many of its development issues at the same time. The digital divide in Mongolia has been growing in size due to many factors such as lack of economic opportunities, location, internet accessibility and age disparity.The number of people who don’t use the internet, smartphones or computers is decreasing while those who use it to learn, develop and increase their income are growing in number. It can be said that we basically have the necessary technological conditions to connect everyone to the internet and provide them with a computer education. Mobile phone networks have already reached every soum in Mongolia. Therefore, it is time to organize training for everyone on how to use smartphones and computers. There are already laptops and mobile phones that can be charged by solar power out there. Every Mongolian home can now benefit from the fruits of the technical revolution even before they connect to electricity.
If everyone, regardless of their location (rural or urban) is granted access to the internet, labor productivity in our country will improve. A herder at home will be able to know grazing locations for their herds with the help of GPS which can be put on herder dogs or livestock. They can even tell their dogs to bring the herd home just like New Zealanders do. Also, herders will be able to see weather forecasts and properly manage natural hazards. Furthermore, herders will be able to acquire the most up-to-date information on prices of products they sell such as animal skins, meat and milk. Video calls can also be made anytime, to anywhere and with anyone.
If every single person can use the Internet, there will be less disparity in age, gender, ethnicity and education. Hundreds of thousands of people who accumulated great amounts of professional experience, but reached their retirement age, will now be able to find a suitable job to do and continue their active lifestyle. Thus, the efficiency of our abnormal labor force structure (where despite having a labor force of only one million, youths working abroad and the over 50s considered old) will improve significantly. For example, Mrs. Bazaryn Zagdaa, who learned to use a computer and the Internet after turning 70 has now written three books and picked up a travelling hobby.
When there is a reliable internet connection at all times, the data needed for thousands of reports regularly published will be able to be collected with less work and in a short period of time. It will save traveling costs, including burning fuel, which will contribute to reducing air pollution. People will also be able to get all kinds of public services from home and, eventually, they can even vote from home. It will save us the billions of tugrugs spent on vote-counting machines as well as time wasted on debating whether the election results were fair or not. If a person does not have an eyesight problem and is connected to the internet, he or she will be able to do many daily tasks from home such as making purchases, searching for jobs, using dictionaries, making inquiries, finding out locations, setting routes, getting bank services, making financial transactions, checking the weather, reading newspapers and exchanging emails. This will save everyone’s money and time and now this money and time can be directed towards other more important purposes.
HOW DO WE USE THIS OPPORTUNITY?
Why doesn’t our reformist government initiate the removal of the digital divide by defining our nation’s needs, determine the exact works to be done and set up the appropriate mechanisms to measure the overall results? Let’s stop directing our attention to petty things such as monitoring comments on websites when there is so much that has to be done in the cyber world. The world is vast and there are lots of things to accomplish. Therefore, let’s think big and act swiftly and appropriately. When providing everyone with a computer, we need to speed up the process of programming all operating systems in Mongolian. Let’s give communication companies the incentive to create a countrywide digital information network with low costs. Let’s direct investment to expanding networks and giving knowledge to people rather than listening to someone’s rhetoric. We have witnessed local government officials having video conferences. Why then, can’t the herders living in the exact same location use the internet?
Instead of holding a concert on the 100th day after its formation, the government should be reporting the results of their work such as how many families have been connected to the internet or provided with apartments and how many roads have been built or repaired. The reality is you can’t manage what you can’t measure – measurable results can only be seen.
After World War II, Park Chung Hee, the former President of South Korea, used to go up in a helicopter every day to see how the building of the Seoul-Pusan Highway was progressing. Let’s act in a likewise manner and talk about specific progress instead. What the government has actually done is much more important than how many hours they are working per day. If access to the internet in every home does not bring rapid development to the country,it will at least provide equal opportunities to every single person. Communication is a human right which can erase the digital divide. It is a significant task that must be accomplished by a democratic government.
Translated by B.AMAR
Short URL: http://ubpost.mongolnews.mn/?p=2828
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