Based on US statistics from the Internet Innovation Alliance (IIA) – their latest ‘broadband infographic’ details the connection between Broadband utilisation and the impact on the local economy, and in particular the beneficial effect this can have on job retention, creation and employment opportunities.
So, reiterating what Digital Birmingham has been saying for years:
The Ten Facts
The IIA appears to be America’s counterpart to Digital Birmingham, as it seeks to promote US public policies that support equal opportunity for online pharmacy universal broadband availability and adoption so that everyone, everywhere can seize the benefits of the Internet – from education to health care, employment to community building, civic engagement and beyond.
So, lets get all the US stats out of the way and I’d be really interested in finding out whether the UK has an equivalent body other than the Office of National Statistics (ONS) or West Midlands Regional Observatory, but in the meantime the Strategic Networks Group (SNG) has created a Digital Economy Index (DEi), which not surprisingly, the research shows that age and income have very significant impacts on how people use the Internet. The proprietary Digital Economy Index summarises how households use thirty distinct Internet activities. The higher the DEi, the more Internet activities a household engages in. The Digital Economy index progression from 1 to 10 (10 being highest) reflects the number of e-solutions being utilised – 10 being a household at 100% utlisation.
Utilisation is impacted by income and age – the lower a household income or the older the household, the lower its Internet utilisation. The differences (or divide) is most pronounced for those over 55 and those making less than $50,000.
So the digital divide is actually expanding as younger, higher income households best leverage e-solutions.
