Sustainability Language

Human Rights & Social Sustainability

Digital divide

The gap between people with meaningful access to digital technologies and those without — across access, skills and realised benefits.

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Definition

The digital divide is the gap between people and communities with meaningful access to information and communication technologies and those without. Research distinguishes successive levels: the access divide (devices and connectivity), the skills divide (digital literacy and quality of use) and the outcome divide (the ability to convert use into educational, economic and civic benefits). Divides run along income, geography, age and gender lines; globally, billions remain offline.

References

Overview

What it means

Connectivity alone does not close the gap — skills and outcomes matter as much as access.

How it is used

The concept structures digital-inclusion policy, universal-service obligations, SDG-related targets and corporate digital-responsibility programmes.

Why it matters

As sustainability services, markets and disclosures digitise, the digital divide determines who can participate in and benefit from the transition.

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