The ‘digital divide’ in new India!

India Inequality Report 2022: Digital Divide

Hey there! 

I am back with another edition of Acadle Bulletin and this week we will be talking about the digital divide emerging in the country mentioned by the Oxfam reports.

“India Inequality Report 2022: Digital Divide” stated: "While 61 percent of men-owned mobile phones in 2021, their access remained limited to just 31 percent of women."  

The digital divide refers to the unequal distribution of online resources to different genders and people of different classes. People with a lack of devices, internet, and online resources get marginalized further and have fewer chances to access education or health services.

The Oxfam NGO has requested that the government not only make the internet more affordable but also make it available to a larger portion of the population. It should be accessible to every stratum of society, irrespective of economic status or gender. 

What can you do as an organization to abolish the digital divide? 

1.     Analyze your distribution: 

If you do not know the problem, how can you solve it? The first step is to analyze if your services or products are reaching an audience of every gender and if they are easily accessible. If you do not serve in the internet sector, it is still important that you analyze your resource distribution and see what the gender ratio of your audience is. 

2.     Educational resources: 

Whatever domain you serve, you can always educate your audience. You can build courses to help your audience upskill and gather information. You can have a free or paid version, depending on your interest or requirement. 

3.     Make your resources accessible: 

Make your training and services accessible to all your audiences. If you are developing an app or website, you must have a user-friendly interface. It should be easily accessible to your audience and the app/website features should complement their requirements. 

4.     If you are in the education sector: 

If you operate in the education sector, the major responsibility falls on your shoulders to distribute the resources equally among everyone. You should ensure that if you are building courses or educating your audience, it should be accessible to every student. 

What you can do additionally? 

·      Give a unified learning experience through LMS

·      Come up with scholarships to easy resource distribution.

·      Analyze resource distribution and implement your education strategies. 

·      Choose completely online mode if needed. 

As a responsible organization, you must take measures and be careful of your resource’s accessibility to abolish the digital divide in the nation. Acadle is assisting various organizations in eliminating these differences by delivering unified learning experiences via white-labelled academies.   

I hope this was an insightful read. 

If you have any recommendations or content suggestions, feel free to drop your ideas.

Signing off till next week!