The concept of the digital divide is evolving, especially in recent times when technology has been imposed abruptly in all corners of society (or at least developed ones).
When we speak of the digital divide, we refer to the existing separation between those people who use or know how to use Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and those who do not know how to use them.
Every time we try to make the gap smaller, because ICTs are very necessary in people's daily lives today: we have made the use of ICTs almost a necessity to be able to carry out our daily tasks or simply survive, becoming in a fundamental engine of economía. However, two thirds of the people who live on the planet do not have access to technology (according to the International Union of Communications, UIC).
Consequences of the digital divide
The fact that not everyone can be offered the same connection possibilities to the world of ICTs - which leads to the digital divide - is a serious social problem.
The lack of connection establishes inequality between those people who do have access and those who do not, preventing the latter from accessing the same opportunities. This can lead to problems such as wage gap: Finding a job, training through these platforms, access to recent information, access to cultural assets, etc., is not possible if there is no such possibility of connection.
The governments and associations involved are aware of the situation in which they find themselves, and there are many projects or actions that are undertaken and studied in order to alleviate this situation and carry out a necessary process of digital adaptation.