CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2018
| Author | Zare, Ahmad Massieh |
|---|---|
| Title | The Digital Divide in China & India - A Comparative Case Study Analysis |
| Summary | Information and Communication Technologies have spread in many parts of the world. In many cases they have entailed tremendous benefits for societies and individuals such as accelerated economic growth, new employment opportunities, and improved government services. On the other hand, not everyone could harness their benefits in equal ways, leading to digital divides within and across countries. This dissertation focuses not only on the often-failing promise of ICT appropriation leading to enhanced development for everyone, but it puts those into its center of focus that have been left behind. In an effort to grasp the meanings und understandings currently existent in the digital divide concept, the dissertation elaborates the major pillars of the digital divide and make use of them later to analyze the ICT policies of the two cases: China and India. Then it introduces van Dijk´s “Resources and Appropriation Theory” as the theoretical framework for the analysis. By applying van Dijk's causal five-step model it is argued that structural analogue inequalities are the sources for upcoming digital inequalities. With the point of departure being the digital divide conceptual framework, two important cases from the group of developing countries and their governments' ICT policies from the beginning of the 21st century until 2020 have been subject to comparative analysis. It has been found that the more digital divide or inequality focused an ICT policy has been the better the country has scored on digital divide indices. In essence, it was found that the variance in the comparison between China and India, China being clearly better off, can be explained in parts because of China's shift in policy approach in its 11th five-year plan that has much more centered societal inequality issues to be tackled. |
| Supervisor | Bodenstein, Thilo Daniel; Jordana, Jacint |
| Department | School of Public Policy MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2018/zare_massieh.pdf |
Visit the CEU Library.
© 2007-2021, Central European University