Is closing the digital divide the answer to development? : the case of information and communication technologies in the Caribbean

Abstract

Coined the 'digital divide', technology access and its role in development has increasingly become an issue of intense debate, as information and communication technologies and accessibility are now new additions to existing parameters of poverty measurements. Using ICT for development initiatives, like development institutions, CARICOM is attempting to reduce poverty by increasing ICT access within the region. It is questionable though, whether the inclusion of ICTs in a poverty reduction agenda will bring about the desired result. There is a tendency to severely overstate the potentialities of ICT for development as the digital divide is merely an implicit reflection of existing global inequalities. Ignoring structural factors such as excessive migration and skill loss, non-mutually beneficial technology transfer agreements and unfair market policies pillared on neoliberal capitalistic principles, can only allow Caribbean ICT initiatives to serve as an ameliorative tool, rather than part of a long term development goal.