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Local Knowledge and the Digital Divide: Focus on Southeast Asia
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Abstract:
The production, dissemination and utilization of knowledge are essential for development and the
introduction of information and communication technology (ICT) is a precondition for developing
a knowledge society. Countries, regions and populations are, however, divided, in terms of access
to ICT. Socio-economic indicators on Brazil, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, the Netherlands and
Germany are used to show that the existing global digital divide and the knowledge gap are
widening between developing countries and the industrial countries and within individual nations.
The moral and cultural issues of the digital divide and the knowledge gap are identified. Access to
primary education and the acquisition of reading and writing skills is a basic human right and an
internal digital divide between those that have access to further knowledge and others without
access is unjust and not acceptable. Furthermore a civilization needs “meta-narratives” as a
common ground, an anchorage for basic cultural values, which have to be disseminated, known and
accepted by all members of a society to avoid violent conflict, fundamentalisms of various kinds
and alienation. Some countries have embarked on an ambitious plan to close the digital divide and
to use knowledge as a base for economic development, by-passing earlier stages of
industrialization. Some commentators have, in contrast, asserted that it is doubtful that closing the
digital divide will let developing countries leapfrog to higher levels of development as the
knowledge economy will deepen the digital divide between regions and populations and actually
expand the gap between rich and poor. The paper discusses this controversy by arguing that global
knowledge has to be localized and local knowledge utilized in developing a knowledge society. If it
seems unlikely that the digital gap between developing and developed countries will be closed
completely at least narrowing the gap at the lower end should be targeted. For this purpose minimal
standards of “basic digital needs” should be formulated.
Description:
Date:
2013
Authors:
Hans-Dieter Evers
Solvay Gerke
Publisher:
Institute of Asian Studies, Universiti Brunei Darussalam
