Propuesta para la elección del modelo lingüístico

The contribution that communications play in the development process has been clearly demonstrated. However, there is disparity in access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), which has resulted from differences in class, race, age, culture, geography, or other factors that have affectively deprived certain citizens from participating in the global economy (Kroukamp, 2005). This disparity is known as the Digital Divide. While the Global Digital Divide affects a number of developing nations, it is most evident on the African continent; Africa has the lowest penetration of ICTs per capita in the world (International Development Research Center, 2005). The digital divide is defined by Cullen (2003: 247) as being the metaphor used to describe the perceived disadvantage of those who either are unable or do not choose to make use of ICTs in their daily life. The Digital Divide Network (2004) defines the concept as the gap between those who have access to communication tools, such as the Internet, and those who cannot. The American Library Association (ALA), Office for Information Technology Policy (2000) defines the digital divide as disparities based on economic, status, gender, race, physical abilities and geographic location between those “who have” or “do not have” access to information, the Internet, and other information technologies and services. Mariscal (2005) defines the concept as the gap between individuals, households, business and geographic arrears at different socio-economic levels with regard to both their opportunities to access information technologies and to the use of such technologies for a wide variety of activities.

The biggest development in expanding access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) in Africa involves the communications infrastructure. The lack of basic infrastructure is historical in the region, with the percentage of fixed telephone lines being the lowest worldwide having an average of 4 main lines for 100 people (ITU,

31

2008). This has led to Africa being dubbed “one of the least wired regions in the world” (ITU, 2009). Despite these challenges, efforts are underway to bridge the digital divide in Africa by expanding broadband penetration and building services that leverage the increased connectivity of the African population. Many African governments have prioritized ICTs in their national agendas, appreciating the great impetus and contribution that communications play in the development process. These commitments, together with those of other stakeholders, are in parallel with ITU’s comprehensive strategy to bridge the digital divide. Wilson (2006) considers the digital divide from eight main aspects. First, the physical access that describes the access to ICTs and its infrastructure, which are fundamental. Second, is the financial access. The third aspect is the cognitive access, which includes the ICT skills and knowledge needed to use these technologies and to gain benefit from it. Further aspects are design access for usability, content access, and the production access, which are not a necessity but are important for developing their own content and ideas with ICTs, especially on the Internet.

Very important is the institutional access that enables access; and probably the most important one, Wilson’s eighth aspect, is political access (Wilson, 2006). Although most African countries (including Rwanda, Tanzania, Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda, to name a few) do not have access to fixed line telephones infrastructure, the picture has changed dramatically in the last decade, and even smaller countries are connected with satellite up-down-link stations, broadband sea-cables, or fiber optic cables (Hagen, 2007). Africa’s satellite connectivity has grown dramatically in the last couple of years, but not much has changed in fiber optics that can connect Africa to the rest of the world (Moore, 2009). The map below shows the current undersea cable projects that are already in process.

Some researchers are of the opinion that Africa is experiencing a “developmental divide” between the regional and the industrialized countries, and not necessarily a “digital divide” (Idowu, 2008; Ojo, 2006; Adomi, 2004). Hope is assured when ICTs in the

32

Figure 1.1: African Undersea Cables (2011)

Source: http://manypossibilities.net/african-undersea-cables [Accessed 13/08/2012]

{The thickness of the drawn lines indicates the bandwidth planned for single projects. The projects try to connect the West coast with higher bandwidth, and the East coast will be connected with undersea-cables for the first time (Moore, 2009).

33

African health sector are in line with the cultural values of the people and are thus further integrated into the design and implementation of these technologies. ICTs should not be seen merely as being the solution that will eradicate the problems within Sub-Saharan Africa, but, rather, as a means of infinite development (Ojo, 2006). The gaps in ICT usage in the Nigerian health care systems are poverty and isolation. This covers both rural and urban areas. In 2000, it was recorded that 15 cities were operational for Internet usage and access; unfortunately, 70% of Nigeria’s population are concentrated in the rural areas and villages. Most of Nigeria’s disease burden is due to preventable diseases. The maternal mortality rate (about one mother’s death in every one hundred deliveries) is one of the highest in the world. The under-5 mortality rate and the adult mortality rates are higher than the average for sub-Saharan Africa (NDHS, 2013).

The majority of people live in low income countries and are highly dependent upon technology to help to solve the pressing problems of poverty and, as such, technology has been seen as a means for appropriate change and increase benefits (Harris, 2002). Mark Pagel (2012), in the “Wired for Culture” series, published an article in the Daily Beast which strongly suggests otherwise, by inherently stating that the culture to which human beings presently belong fills us with a peculiar inventory that shapes our mandates and determines our expectations, further stating that the basic texture of our inner lives is sewn by cultural threads. The Internet serves as a means to enable the emergence of new mechanisms which are shaped by, and which also shape, the development of communication. New technologies, such as the ICTs, serve to expand reciprocal and non- reciprocal communication (Slevin, 2000). Technological determinists argue that scientific progression inevitably induces change, while social/cultural determinists counter that change is effected through bureaucracy, stake holders and government forces (Green 2001). With the progress of Information Communication Technologies, aging societies are being provided with new and interesting opportunities for more accessible and universal health care services (Haux et al., 2008: 77).

34