For the New Intellectual Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

For the New Intellectual - Essay Example He says that the conquering of the soul is already happening in the world today as man has been made to believe that altruism is the ideal human state. That way people are encouraged to suffer and personal progress stagnates collectively for the sake of others, that is; the will of all, subjugated to the will of all. According to him, by teaching men to unite, as they are currently being encouraged to do son in form of nation block and other groupings, mankind is being manipulated to morph into a single neck on which they can be collective manipulated and enslaved. He argues that collectivism is designed to subjugate the individual and elevate groups; he postulates that one man is held as evil while society is seen as God, thus through collectives, the soul of the individual are slaughtered and the rest follows meekly. The soul of and individualist is advanced in Roark’s defense before a court He disputes the popular assumption that selflessness and collective ideology is the most beneficial and progressive altitude by saying that it is only through individualism that great achievements and discoveries have been made in retrospect (Rand 71). He uses several analogies of men who made landmark discoveries in history, he speculates that; the man who discovered fire was probably leeched, he says, for the â€Å"evil† he did, yet since then mankind has benefited from fire, the same fate may have befallen the discoverer of the wheel. Speculation aside, he mentions some more verifiable truths such as the fact that Anesthesia which was an important discovery in medicine was initially considered sinful, he also mentions the fact that many scientists and inventors were persecuted for their knowledge which the world came to rely on. Upshot of his argument is that these men were not inspired by the desire to serve their community to do the great things they did, in-fact in most cases they were directly contravening what was expected of them. Yet by following t heir selfish egoistic individual desires and ambition, they came to benefit the society in its entirety. He claims that individualism is responsible for mankind achievement and America’s success and prosperity and greatness and that those who set out to do good for society often ended up causing blood baths. To a great extent, I agree with both arguments of both speakers, quintessentially, both paint individualism as the ideal human conditions, in Tahoohey’s he claims that subjugation of society can only be achieve if men are made to lose their individual identity and ascribe to a collective one. In essence he is saying that an oppression and individualism are mutually exclusive since for one to oppress a people, the needs must first eliminate the individual identity. This is true since even in prison, one is stripped off their name and give a number they also get uniform clothes and in some cases haircuts, this is because the best way to control people is to make them see themselves not as individuals but as members of a larger community. The second arguments paints individualism as being the stuff from which genius and creativity and innovation spawns, this is logical because in essence most people will achieve the greatest success if they are intrinsically motivated; not by the idea of monetary gain or public approval but simply because they personally desire i to do what they

Case study 3 Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Case study 3 - Article Example Harrah’s marketing strategy Harrah’s marketing strategy is guided by the principle of 80/20 whereby 80 percent of the revenues come from 20 percent of the most loyal and satisfied customers of a business. As such, marketing practices of Harrah’s have always been customer-centric keeping their preferences in mind and avoiding huge and unnecessary investments in infrastructure and property building. Harrah’s not only gained customer loyalty but also rewarded it from time to time which established long term relations with its customers. On the contrary, Harrah’s competitors had been very stereotypic in their marketing approach by spending frivolously on hotels and building properties without paying any attention to capturing greater customer base which ultimately swept them away from competition. Total Rewards Program at Harrah Harrah’s total rewards program, earlier known as Total Gold is a customer loyalty program which retains and tracks the information of Harrah’s customers and also rewards them on the basis of careful segregation of most profitable and active customers. In the context of business intelligence, this program retains each and every entry, exit or gaming information of all the Harrah’s customers and classifies them on the basis of their loyalty and activeness.

Defining the Word Hot Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 6

Defining the Word Hot - Essay Example Perhaps the primary reference of the word hot is a high temperature. During the summer, weather temperatures could go as high as a hundred degrees Fahrenheit or even higher. In Dubai, it has recorded 122 degrees Fahrenheit high. This is an extremely high temperature for humans and animals so that they need to stay indoors more often and have relied on air-conditioners to lower the temperature. When people need to go out, they should have something to block them from the sun such as an umbrella and they should also carry water to quench their thirst brought about by the high temperature. Obviously, the heat of the sun is a big factor affecting this hot temperature during summer. With no clouds to block the sun, the earth’s direct exposure to it elevates the temperature and therefore makes people perspire as a result of the hotness of the atmosphere. Similarly, hot is often associated with fire which is used to cook food or to make the house warm during winter.  Secondly, the word hot can also refer to a person’s hot-headedness. This association is most probably based on the fact that an angry person has an elevated blood pressure that causes his face to become red especially with white men. When a person is angry, his heart beats faster and pumps blood more rapidly which explains the increased blood pressure. Consequently, the temperature of the man also rises like a person suffering from the fever so that, in relation to the discussion above, an angry person is called hot. The process allows more blood on the head and changes the color of one’s face. Therefore, this could also be associated with the blood. Blood and the heart are identified with the color red. Moreover, a fire which emits some reddish glow or the color of ember or glowing coal is red. Blood, heart, and anger are all interconnected and this is the reason why an angry person is also referred to as hot-tempered. The term is the opposite of the slang word â€Å"cool†.

Alfred Hitchcock Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Alfred Hitchcock - Essay Example Biography, Cultural Background Alfred Hitchcock, an engineer in his early life, was born in London England on the 13th of August, 1899. Graduating out of St. Ignatius College at the University of London, he would become involved with the film industry by 1920 after that early engineering stint, eventually creating a body of work that would earn for him a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute in 1979 among many other accolades, as well as the Academy Award for Best Picture for his very first foray into making a film in America. That first Academy Award bid would cone for the film â€Å"Rebecca†. His early path would also leave him out of London and into Hollywood by 1939, where he would eventually be the creator of more than fifty movies, chief among them a number of icons and classics in film: â€Å"Psycho†, â€Å"Rear Window†, and â€Å"39 Steps†. He passed away in 1980, in California (A+E Television Networks; Rampton). Some of his o ther notable works that have stood the test of time include 'The Man Who Knew Too Much', 'The Lady Vanishes', 'Spellbound' and 'Notorious' (The Criterion Collection); 'The Lodger', 'Sabotage', 'The Wrong Man', 'Vertigo', 'North by Northwest', and 'Strangers on a Train'. In the genre of thriller movies, he is the unsurpassed master, having been credited with essentially giving birth to the genre, even as his other achievements included technical breakthroughs in the making of films, such as the use of the MacGuffin device. He made use of various artistic devices too, pioneering in the use and interplay of elements that include humor, suspense and sexuality to make his memorable and groundbreaking films (Turner Entertainment Networks). Meanwhile, as can be gleaned from his biography and early education, his cultural influences have elements that include his early strict Christian upbringing and education, spiced with his experience as an English film maker, technician and craftsman in America (Schwartz; A+E Television Networks; Rampton; Brooks). On the other hand, it is worthwhile to note that while he is well-known in America and made many of the movies that have earned him his reputation on that side of the Atlantic, his influences also extend to his British cinema period, that time in the 1920's when he made British art films that were said to hew towards the sensibilities and aesthetic of the European cinema as art movement. Two of his works during this period, 'The Lodger' made in 1926 and 'Blackmail' made in 1929 bear these influences (Ryall 7; Derry 3-9; Sterritt 2-5; Sloan 15-18). II. Historical Period, Culture Represented by Hitchcock and His Work Properly speaking one speaks of not one cultural period but four periods as far as the reach and breadth of the work of Alfred Hitchcock is concerned. Historically he is situated in that period from the start of the 20th century to 1980. On the other hand, in terms of the sweep of his work and the compass that that sweep covers culturally, there are properly four periods in his work. One is the silent period, which immediately precedes or overlaps with what has been discussed above as his British period, in the 1920's. Seminal films during this time associated with the silent period include 'The Lodger'. The second phase would be characterized by a string of so-called espionage films, made in the 1930's, and includes such works as '39 Steps' in 1935, 'Sabotage' in 1936, and 'The Secret Agent' also in 1936. Films like 'Rebecca', 'Foreign Correspondent', 'Shadow of a Doubt

Enterprise Technologies and the Value Chain Research Paper

Enterprise Technologies and the Value Chain - Research Paper Example Opportunities to identify these benefits can be realized via examining the organization’s value chain. Enterprise Technology Mobile business refers to electronic business transactions enabled, in part, by mobile technology targeting both consumers and businesses (Hill & Jones, 2011). The mobile business includes mobile commerce activities that represent mobile technology-enabled transactions. Mobile technologies that support mobile businesses are grouped as networks and devices. Mobile devices can range from GPS and RFID chips to tablets and barcode scanners. Mobile networks include RFID, Bluetooth, GPS and mobile telecommunication networks. These are utilized, by organizations, to offer customization and flexibility. Unlike e-commerce, M-business offers value via enabling users to be reachable anytime and be mobile. Therefore, value creation can occur via support to mobile users (employees) or mobile activities such as tracking supplies and raw materials. An industry trend th at is growing is Fixed Mobile Convergence where centralized infrastructure and management support a mobile workforce that provides access to business applications from all locations and network connections (Hill & Jones, 2011). ... The employees may want to interact with fellow employees and may be on the receiving end of interactions with both external and internal information systems. An example of a business application useful here is the wireless notification system using SMS for critical updates. The wireless interactions possible are employee-to-employee, employee to the system, and employee to consumer (Meier & Stormer, 2011). The systems are run by organizations as either a front-end or back-end systems. An example of this is an employee using wireless business’ ERP system, with the potential mobile interactions being a system-to-system, system to the employee, and system to consumer. The final component supported is the consumer, who may interact wirelessly with the organization. The potential interactions include consumer-to-consumer, consumer to the employee and consumer to system. The unique attributes of mobile technology offer support to the organization’s value chain by providing localization, personalization, and connectivity (Meier & Stormer, 2011). A mobile infrastructure enables employees to have full time connectivity anywhere and at any time, coupled with information and communication exchange. A mobile device is assigned to one user, who can then personalize application and interface settings to increase device satisfaction and also effectiveness and efficiency of the system. Finally, mobile devices support localization, which is especially important as it allows reachability from the ability of the internet to reach an IP address to reaching the user or an item.  Ã‚  

Cultural competence and its promotion in the education system Essay Example for Free

Cultural competence and its promotion in the education system Essay The demise of racial segregation in the 1960s saw the emergence of cultural diversity with colored and non colored students now being taught under the same roof. From then on, schools have seen an increasingly diverse mix of students, matters having been complicated further by globalization, which has resulted in more diverse cultures making the United States their country of choice. Diversity is good and must be appreciated; the only problem is that if not handled well it may have the potential of creating apathy between the different cultures making up the cultural mix so that instead of a system becoming a cultural melting pot, it becomes the crystallization chamber. The aim of this paper is to examine the role of culture in molding competent students. Cultural competence More often than not, competence is construed in its narrowest definition, which is mostly in reference to acquisition of the necessary skills for the performance of a job. For this paper however, competence will be in reference to both culture and knowledge. Ahlawat and Ahlawat (2006) found the influence of globalization to be so enormous to the extent that multicultural diversity is now amongst the key ingredients for students aspiring for a global career. An equally important finding is by Thomas (2006), who emphasized the importance of cultural intelligence in the business environment. The role of culture within the organizations is captured by Berrell and Gloet (1999), who did a study on influence of culture in organizational culture and found it significant. The study implies that for one to blend seamlessly in to an organization there must be a level of cultural competence because there seems to be a thin line between the culture within and without the organization. For instance, according to the study, an organization within Malaysia will most likely have a culture similar to that of Malaysian people. If one has problems adapting to the Malaysian culture then the person’s work output may be greatly limited. The role of the education system in such a scenario will be to create a culturally competent global citizen. It cannot of course be expected that students will be trained to adapt to certain cultures only, instead, skills to adapt to diverse cultures will be imparted. Such a skill is given by Arizaga, Waldo and Castellanos (2005), who found that teachers who participated in multicultural enhancement program showed increase cultural competence in the form of listening and expressive skills. Evidently, these are adaptive skills that once acquired may be applied in any cultural setting. Educator’s role in promoting cultural competence The design of the education system should ensure that it produces tolerant people capable of adapting to any cultures. One of the ways given by Arizaga et al (2005) is by having multicultural enhancement programs to promote listening and expressive skills. Pope and Mueller (2005) also emphasize the need to integrate diversity issues in designing education programs. This can perhaps be described as the cornerstone of achieving cultural competence because if its importance can be taken in to account in the training of educators then eventually the educators that will end up in the field preparing the students will know what it entails to be culturally competent, and will thereafter pass on the skill. Pope, Mueller and Reynolds (2009) appear to agree with the importance of having culturally competent educators when it pays tribute to student affairs professionals for the increased number of multicultural scholarships in the last three decades. The emphasis should therefore be on getting culturally competent educators on board the educational system if substantial results are to be expected. . Further to that, the authors are also urging the educators not to simply embrace diversity; they should actually seek it proactively. In addition to promoting cultural competence in as far as interacting with people from other ethnic, racial and national cultures, the education system should promote tolerance to homosexuals. This is according to Liang and Alimo (2005), who suggested that the education system could promote a more positive attitude of heterosexual students towards homosexual students by encouraging interaction between the two groups, something the study found to increase tolerance between the two groups. An equally important aspect of attitude development in the education system is the acquisition of positive views of self worth and meaningfulness Coll and Zalaquet (2007). Its importance in promoting cultural competence may not be obvious, but it is not hard to imagine how a person with a feeling of high self worth and meaning will find it rational to respect other people’s rights. A challenge to achieving cultural diversity is presented by Salazar (2005) who cites challenges faced by counsellors of color. Counselors of color according to the research are faced with prejudices in their interactions with white middle class students. Sadly, this may be an in built mentality, which may take some time to get rid of but fortunately, cultural competence presents one of the remedies to this inappropriate attitude. Implications of the findings Most people spend over two decades in school, meaning that the education system plays a big role in shaping the national psyche. Among other functions, Gay (2009) says that education plays an important role bringing up constructive students. The element of constructiveness goes beyond cultural competence and ropes in other areas such as raw knowledge and social skills. In fact, according to the article the education system may play role in promoting democracy. The upshot of all this is that an educator must realize that the challenges and objectives of the education system are dynamic and for one to remain relevant, it is important to continuously adapt to the changes. For instance, a few years ago it would have been unthinkable that the education system would want to promote tolerance towards homosexuals; these were outcasts for whom there was little concern. However, the reality of the output focused employment present today has ensured increased tolerance to such people and thus the need for a change in approach. An educator will be differentiated from any other knowledgeable person from their ability to produce all rounded graduates. Some of the important traits to be considered include cultural competence and tolerance. For example, if the task is to teach students mathematics without considerations to the other aspects then that can even be done by anybody with the basic knowledge needed to teach the particular subject. The professional educator must be easy to differentiate from other people possessing the same level of knowledge, and one of the hallmarks of this is the ability to produce culturally competent students among other things. Conclusion From the study, cultural competence has proven to be a very important subject area for one’s development. Most people spend over two decades in school, meaning that they will acquire some of their lifelong traits there. Global occupational mobility is on the rise and one of the key ingredients to it is cultural competence. People with less of it will have a very hard time adapting to the different work environments that will be made available by the increased mobility. One’s work output is not a function of skills competence only; it must also include the person’s ability to work with people, which means adopting the narrow minded definition of education will produce half baked students. References Ahlawat, S. , Ahlawat, S. (2006, ). Competing in the Global Knowledge Economy: Implications for Business Education.. Journal of American Academy of Business, 8(1), 101-105. Arizaga, M. B. , Waldo, M. , Castellanos, L. (2005). Multicultural Sensitivity and Interpersonal Skills Training for Preservice Teachers. Journal of Humanistic Counseling, Education and Development, 44(2), 198-202. Berrell, M. , Gloet, M. (1999). Reflections on the cultural dimensions of educational administration. EAF Journal, 13(2), 10. Coll, J. , Zalaquet, C. (2007). The Relationship of Worldviewsof Advisors and Students and satisfaction with advising: A Case of Homogenous. Journal of College Student Retention, 9(3), 273-281. Gay, G. (2009). Similar Concerns, Different Perspectives of Social Studies and Multicultural Education. Social Studies Review, 48(1), 25-27. Liang, C. , Alimo, C. (2005). The Impact of White Heterosexual Students’ Interactions on Attitudes Toward Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual People: A Longitudinal Study. Journal of College Student Development, 46(3), 237-250. Pope, R. , Mueller, J. (2005). Faculty and Curriculum: Examing Multicultural Competence and Inclusion. Journal of College Student Development, 46(6), 679-688. Pope, R. , Mueller, J. , Reynolds, A. (2009). Looking Back and Moving Forward: Future Directions for Diversity Research in Student Affairs. Journal of College Student Development, 50(6), 640-659 Salazar, C. (2005). Outsiders in a White, Middle-Class System: Counselor Educators of Color on Academe. Jounral of Humanistic Counseling, Education and Development, 44(2), 240-252. Thomas, D. (2006). Domain and Development of Cultural Intelligence: The Importance of Mindfulness. Group Organization Management, 31(1), 78-99.

What Is The Digital Divide?

What Is The Digital Divide? One of the worlds most serious problems is the ever increasing gap between the rich and the poor. A small percentage of the worlds population enjoys luxuries while global poverty seems to be increasing. A key aspect of this divide is the digital divide where a large difference in terms of access to information communication technology. Throughout developing nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America access to such technology is limited whereas in developed nations members enjoy the convenience provided by such technology and is more efficient and effective through usage of such technology and also takes advantage of the educational opportunities made available by ICT (Tiene, 2002). The concept of the digital divide can be explained from two perspectives: (1) the distance between countries who have access to electronic information and those that do not, (2) the difference in internet literacy between citizens of developing and developed nation (Brooks, Donovan, Rumble, 2005). (http://www.ebscohost.com/uploads/imported/thisTopic-dbTopic-873.pdf) The second scenario is often considered as a direct result of the former where the lack of infrastructure made available does not create an environment suitable to encourage a higher literacy rate of usage of the internet. The digital divide refers mainly to the division between the information rich and the information poor and is also used to divide the globe geographically similar to the NorthSouth dichotomy (Gudmonsdottir, 2005). The difference in the divide can be attributed to 5 factors, socioeconomic, geographical, educational, attitudinal and generational factors. Information Communication Technology (ICT) has pla yed a major role in the 21st century. However, usage of such technology remains poles apart when compared between developing and developed nations. The term digital divide is used to describe situations where there are gaps in the market in terms of access to the use of ICT devices (Singh, 2012). The measure of the digital divide is not limited to access of the internet and measures other gaps such as access to mobile technology and other forms of communicative technology. According to OECD (2001), the term digital divide refers to the gap between individuals, households, business and geographic areas at the different socio-economic levels with regard to their opportunities to access of ICTs and their use of the internet. It reflects the differences between and within countries. For the purpose of this paper, it will examine the digital divide using the concept of the haves (represented by developed countries) and have nots (developing nations) along with the key assumptions as to h ow the digital divide determines the future of class, education and economic capacity with long-term and social political consequences. The paper will further examine the efforts made by global agencies and the policies that they have developed to overcome this divide and examines the level of success of these policies. The digital divide exists between countries with different levels of progress and even within the country between urban and rural areas (ITU, 2002). It is a result of the disparities of society and is likened to the divides created by income, health and education. The primary reason for the disparity is poverty where when a countrys citizens have less money it is less likely that they would use ICT (Figure 3). Difference in access to ICT has created a difference in the measure of power in society with the digital divide reflecting how power is being distributed. The digital divide in reference to figures 1 and 2, can be seen that developed nations are among those with the highest internet penetration boasting penetration of over 60%. Developing nations represent the lower half in terms of internet penetration and do not even have a .25% penetration among the 10 countries with the lowest internet penetration. Internet usage among those countries is largely associated with the more dev eloped cities and usage of internet in rural areas is almost unheard of. ] Recent efforts by organizations have shown evidence that the digital divide is shrinking. Developing nations have been able to increase the number of internet users by 2% in 1991 to 23% in2001. However, advancements in technology has led to a new form of digital divide where shifts have been made from basic to advanced communciations. This is harder to measure as it measures the quality of ICT used. For example, international internet bandwidth is a good measure of users experiences as the greater the bandwidth the quicker the response time improving efficiency. Comparisons between developed and developing nations can be illustrated where the 400,000 citizens in Luxembourg have more international internet bandwidth compared to Africas 760 million citizens. The highspeed internet access made available in developed nations allows internet users to better quality access and allows them access to more advanced sites that allow video streaming rather than basic usage like checking emails. Impact of the Digital Divide The digital divide and its impact on developing nations economies is that of a spiral where they do not have the economy to support the infrastructure necessary to allow developing nations to utilize technology to level the competitive advantages with developed nations. Primary concerns among developing nations is that poor countries have more pressing concerns such as focusing on food, healthcare and basic needs of the people rather than focusing on technological advancement (http://www.masternewmedia.org/news/2007/01/27/the_digital_divide_issues_and.htm). As a result of this, developing nations lack the capabilities of establishing the infrastructure necessary to allow their nations to have wide enough coverage to be effective. This puts their country in a position where they schools are unable to teach IT skills necessary in more industrialized industries which would help move a country beyond an agricultural themed economy. Also, it puts students from these schools at a disadvant age as they are unable to take advantage of the vast amounts of information available on the web. In comparison, developed nations have the ability to recruit highly trained individuals who are equipped which enables them to produce more giving the country a higher economic growth. Also, countries that lack the IT infrastructure will be unable to carry out e-commerce or e-businesses putting themselves at a disadvantage in the global market. With e-commerce representing 12% of retail sales in the United States, it indicates the impact of technology in the market. It also helps improve overall growth of an economy by reducing costs of some processes such as the elimination of the brick and mortar stores, ease of advertising, reducing search costs and improving efficiency of doing business. Also, access to mobile technology has a significant impact on economies of developed and developing countries. In developing countries the impact is more pronounced as in Wavermans model a developin g country an increase of 10 mobile phones per 100 people helps boost the GDP growth by .6 percentage points. To illustrate this, in Bangladesh, farmers and fishermen use these mobile phones as a means of identifying the best prices they can get for their goods. Small businesses can use mobile phones as a means to shop around for products. Use of technology in this manner reduces transaction costs, broadens trade networks and helps reduce the need for transportation and broadens the trade network (http://www.economist.com/node/3742817?story_id=3742817). However, as developing nations do not have the infrastructure in place to allow broad usage of such technology, it reduces the production capability of the individuals in their country reducing their competitiveness on the global scale. One of the most important effects of the digital divide is the impact it has on educational efforts in developing nations. With the use of digital technology, it grants access for students to large amounts of information provoking thoughts in dynamic ways and encourages them to work more efficiently. Without access to ICT, developing nations face the possibility of being unable to keep up with their peers. The United Nations Development Program in its Human Development Report for 2001, noted that the technology divide is consistent with the trend of following the income divide across the globe. A lack of education in ICT puts citizens of a developing nation in a weaker position of benefitting from new technologies reinforcing the economic disparities between the rich and poor (Henry, 2012). The digital divide in the societal sense can be likened to events in the past, similar to the industrial revolution. Taking a look at the Meiji Restoration in Japan, it can be observed that with the industrialization it enabled international competitiveness and economic benefits which in turn led to Japan being able to compete on a global scale. Introducing industrialization has led Japan to become a globally recognized force in the world with great technological advancement in manufacturing and information technology. In comparison however, nations who have yet to adopt industrialization can see their GDP per capita and living standards at rate considerably lower compared to Japan. ICT adoption of nations in the developed world is considerably greater in comparison to developing nations as they have better access in terms of resources and have the existing infrastructure to support it. ICT adoption in terms of the digital divide can create a parallel collapse to an even greater degr ee in comparison with the industrial revolution. The ICT revolution creates barriers such as access to information, restructuring society and creating horizontal networks divided by access to information technology. Differences in the scale of technology adoption restructures society by altering class structure to create a new degree of equality in the potential it gives to access to common knowledge via technology such as the internet. Limited adoption of ICT by developing countries further exasperates the divide as it creates a new class system of access. It creates a division of the haves and have nots. The divide could lead to unemployment in more advanced industries which adopt technology as new skills are required and could lead on through generations if members of society are not trained. This could force members of developing nations to focus on primary industries such as agriculture and mining which would lead to such nations being left behind in terms of competitiveness in other industries. United Nations (2001) Human Development Report New Technologies and the Global Race for Knowledge Chapter 2, pp.57-75. Gudmunsdottir, C. (2005). Approaching the digital divide in South Africa. NETREED Conference. Retrieved 22nd September 2012. From http://www.netreed.uio.no/conferences/conf2005/GretaGudmundsdottir.pdfudmundsdottir.pdf Venkat, K. (2002) Delving into the Digital Divide IEEE Spectrum, Volume 39, Issue 2, February, p.14. Retrieved 22nd September 2012. From http://www.cleanmetrics.com/pages/IEEESpectrum-02-2002.pdf Henry, L. (2012). The Digital Divide, Economic Growth and Potential Poverty Reduction: The Case of the English Speaking Caribbean. University of West Indies, St Augustine. Retrieved 22nd September 2012. From http://www.caribank.org/uploads/publications-reports/research/conference-papers/development-strategy-forum/The%20Case%20of%20the%20English-speaking%20Caribbean.pdf Peà ±a-Là ³pez, I. (2003) Want bad news?: ITU Digital Access Index: Worlds First Global ICT Ranking In ICTlogy, #3, December 2003. Barcelona: ICTlogy. Retrieved 22nd September 2012 from http://ictlogy.net/review/?p=38 Source: OECD Communications Outlook 2011 [www.oecd.org/sti/telecom/outlook] Bridging the Digital Divide This section of the paper examines the causes of the digital divide and the efforts put forward by organizations towards bridging the gap. The relationship between ICT and lifelong learning and policies and objectives by governments towards improving the economic competitiveness and reducing the social exclusion are complex. The figure below illustrates the complexity and the road towards bridging the digital divide. Policies made by governments and organizations have to support both competitiveness and inclusion and also at the same time use digital technologies to support lifelong learning. By creating the center of the diagram larger, the digital divide can be overcome with the right policy objectives. The following will identify the objectives needed to be met in order to bridge the divide. http://www.oecd.org/site/schoolingfortomorrowknowledgebase/themes/ict/41232069.jpg Guide to Bridging the Digital Divide Sourced from Mcnair, 2000 An important objective is to secure access for all to ICT as one of the major causes of the digital divide is the difference between the technologically advanced and technologically poor nations (Mcnair, 2000). A good indicator of the level of the digital divide is the number of access lines and access paths per 100 inhabitants. As the graph below indicates the total communication paths in OECD countries has steadily increased over the years however, it is still not evenly distributed as the highest ratios of access paths are still being held by developed nations. The digital divide is even deeper for internet access with China, Taipei, Singapore, Hong Kong and Israel accounting for 52% of all internet hosts outside the OECD and Argentina, Brazil, Malaysia and South Africa representing a further 24%. This indicates that there is the distribution even among developing nations is skewed such that approximately 76% of internet hosts outside the OECD nations are in 9 countries (OECD, 200 1). A solution to this issue is to consider liberalizing the telecommunications market. The liberalization of telecommunications services helps improve the competition forcing existing firms to improve on their service quality; it will lead to price reductions, better service coverage and improve access to ICT (OECD, 2001). As the affordability of access to ICTs reduce, it encourages usage of ICTs (Pena-Lopez, 2003). In Europe for example, it can be observed that with liberalization, the average cost of telephone charges continue to decline. The average price for bundle services dropped by 32% after liberalization of the telecommunications industry in Europe in 1998. Similar circumstances occur with bandwidth prices in Europe where competition and a rapid drop in bandwidth prices occurred as can be observed in the figure below. The increased competition on a global scale has led to several key factors in addressing the digital divide (1) Computing costs have steadily decreased and c apacity is increasing in a variety of devices to prices where many users can afford. (2) Competition among technology firms has led to improvements in technology such as the new wireless protocols which are able to overcome technical and financial problems when expanding into rural communities in developing nations. (Smyth, 2006) (http://www.intel.com/it/pdf/wireless-technologies-and-e-learning-bridging-the-digital-divide.pdf) Source: OECD Communications Outlook 2011 Developing infrastructure necessary to facilitate the usage of ICT is also crucial in bridging the digital divide. The responsibilities of this however falls on, local governments, private institutions and also international organizations with the technological expertise in helping facilitate the construction of the infrastructure. Among the key projects which have been launched is the optical fibre network being deployed throughout South and East Africa. As part of a project by national and cellphone operators, national research and education networks are emerging in African countries as part of a consortia to link their major institutions by purchasing internet bandwidth. This project SANREN, is being funded by the Meraka institute as well as the tertiary education network to create a broadband system for its higher education and research institutes. The project aims to be the Geant of Africa and is expected to be at least 1,000 times faster than the current infrastructure made ava ilable. The Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy) is another initiative considered to be a milestone in the region. The objective of which is to connect the countries of Eastern Africa with the rest of the world via an optical cabling system. This allows countries in the region to no longer rely on expensive satellite systems as a means for connectivity. This project is being funded by the Developmental Bank of Southern Africa and the World Bank. (http://www.saao.ac.za/fileadmin/files/Publications/Quest_Digital_Divide.pdf) Having the infrastructure in place helps increase access paths reducing the barriers to access to ICTs. Another key would be using education as a means to bridge the digital divide. Disparities in the level of education explain 9.9-14.4% in computer penetration gaps with the average number of years of school in the Sub-Saharan region of Africa being 3.7 years and 8.3 years in Europe and Central Asia. In comparison, the average years of schooling in the United States is 12.1 years. Having computers requires a certain degree of education to be used therefore countries with low levels of human capital have limited demand for computers(http://cgirs.ucsc.edu/publications/wp/wp2004-3.pdf) (Caselli and Coleman (2001) and Pohjola (2003)). It is imperative therefore that for organizations to create a learning economy within developing nations where individuals, firms and countries will be able to create wealth in proportion to their capacity to learn and share. Creating a learning economy places emphasis on life-long learning to foster dissemination, circles of discovery and an emergence of sha red understandings. The World Bank has implemented several measures to help develop developing nations towards a knowledge economy http://www.worldbank.org/education/digitaldivide/DD_EXT.pdf. The Human Development Network (HDN) provides knowledge management, training resources and technical assistance for developing countries in areas such as education and the use of technology for educational purposes. It has also developed a program that provides training for teaching staff and students in developing countries known as the Developmental program. Another initiative by the World Bank is setting up Global Distance Learning Centers which aim to provide tailored learning programs and state of the art facilities for internet-based learning (http://gdln.org/about). The Bank has also developed financing instruments for education based programs. The number of education technology activities increased by 20 and 90% in 1997 and 1999. 1/3 of this financing went towards developing nations in L atin America and the Caribbean. Building on the initiatives taken, the World Bank has set up a specific task force with the aim of bridging the digital divide through education. The objective of the task force is to assist developing countries in developing strategies with regards to technology in education. The task force is also assigned to promote projects that help address key issues in terms of education such as quality and increased access to ICT. This task force will work hand in hand with another division of the World Bank, the Global Distance Education Network which has similar goals in reducing the digital divide. By providing its expertise in these areas and helping set up a proper mapping guide as to how to improve education, it creates better environments to educate citizens of developing nations. The higher the level of education, the higher the demand for computers resulting in better usage of ICTs in these developing nations (Fairlie, 2003). These initiatives also help educate citizens of developing nations and trains up a workforce able to develop, maintain and provide value-added products and services required by the knowledge economy which will in turn help improve the countries competitive capabilities (Hudson, 2000)_(http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/BRYUH/12.hudson.pdf). Examining the digital divide, it can be observed that the digital divide is getting smaller, however it is still not equal across all borders. Certain developing nations still face more pressing issues such as fulfilling basic needs of their people particularly in countries with the lowest digital access index such as Niger, Mali and Chad. Political turmoil in these countries make it difficult for international organizations such as the World Bank to assist in narrowing the digital divide. Progress can definitely be seen as some key points are examined. In 2010 there were approximately 2 billion internet users worldwide having doubled from 1 billion in 2005 with China leading the charge at 418.9 million. Information based development in China has exceeded the worlds average level as a result of its initiatives in bridging the divide. Lack of access to ICT leads to a lack of education, wealth and income, in turn leading to lack of access to ICT infrastructure and services and so continues the digital divide. Several socio-economic groups, especially within the developed world, have benefited enormously from the innovative creations of the ICT industry, not least in the arenas of learning and collaboration. By sharing this experience and expanding the key uses of ICT in education to other groups within our own society and in the developing world we can kick-start the beginning of the end for the digital divide. To date, communications equipment has been expensive and requires good infrastructure to be in place. Rural communities and developing countries often do not have either the necessary infrastructure or the available funding to put such infrastructure in place. With the advent of the new wireless technologies, there is an unprecedented opportunity to remedy this situation at a fraction of the cost, and in a f raction of the time, that would previously have been required. The digital divide must then be fought on at least two battlefields: economy and education. Regarding the possibility to allow more people to be able to afford a computer or a mobile phone, a good accomplishment is represented by the fact that the cost of digital technologies lowers year after year. The UN are currently helping eliminating the digital divide in developing countries by promoting international initiatives, and also private institutions are contributing with ideas such as the One Laptop Per Child project. On the other hand, there is still a lot to do to make sure everyone can properly use digital technologies; for example, the Internet which is the expression of the new media world is still not completely accessible and interactive to most of its users. Starting with web design, a big accomplishment would represent a more distributed adoption of the W3C accessibility guidelines, let alone the use of a writing style that is based on simple grammar and makes content easily searchable and readable. The major issue, however, remains the lack of education that influences many people and does not allow them to access certain information sources that are only reachable via digital technologies. In this case, the progressive spread of mobile phones and the expansion of mobile networks (as stated in a recent report by Word Bank) might certainly represent a significant improvement in the lives of all those individuals whose access to the digital era is still denied. Link: http://www.masternewmedia.org/news/2007/01/27/the_digital_divide_issues_and.htm#ixzz28RyJWlzR