The Great Digital Divide

Until a few weeks ago, the importance of the internet as a social-economic equaliser was fairly obvious. But today, with a pandemic raging across the globe, separating families and decimating economies, it is absolutely paramount. Yet roughly half of the world’s population remains offline, with potentially dire consequences. Organisations, both private and public, can and must work to change that. But how?

Significant implications

We wanted to find out. In the latest, comprehensive research from the Capgemini Research Institute – The Great Digital Divide: Why bringing the digitally excluded online should be a global priority, we spoke to more than 1,300 people who are currently not online, and to over 3,700 people who are online. We also interviewed executives at 22 non-profits, charities, NGOs, and private companies working in the digital inclusion space.

• Being offline has significant social and economic implications today.
• The offline population is eager to get online.

We can ill afford to ignore

Bridging the digital divide requires collaboration and leadership from private organisations, governments, NGOs, non-profits, and academia. Private organisations should invest in digital inclusion as part of their CSR agendas, educate people on how to stay safe online, and recruit from marginalised communities. Policymakers and governments should make the internet, devices, and online public services more accessible to marginalised communities. Private organisations and policymakers together should focus on public-private partnerships and educate disadvantaged offline populations about the value of the internet. If the public and private sectors fail to work effectively together, the digital divide will continue to create inequalities across the world. This is something we can ill afford.

To know more about Capgemini’s action on the topic, visit the Digital Inclusion page.