1. CYBER EXCLUSION AS
SOCIAL EXCLUSION:
South-East European
Experience
Zoran Kostov
St. Cyril and Methodius University
Skopje, Republic of Macedonia

2. Methodological challenges
 Non-standardised definitions for the
key indicators
 Limited, outdated, non-standardised
data
 Various types of sources
(private/commercial, governmental,
international/inter-governmental,
NGOs etc.)

3. The information inequality
 Information gap
 Knowledge gap
 Digital divide
 Cyber exclusion
 Systematic colonization of social
knowledge by the rich nations

4. Cyber exclusion
 Cyber space as social space
 Cyber exclusion as social exclusion:
digital divide beyond the technical
interpretations
 The lack of access to ICT reproduces
other kinds of inequalities in the
society at large

5. SEE-WB cyber exclusion
indicators
 External exclusion
- Internet users
- Internet hosts
 In-country exclusion
- Age
- Gender
- Residence

6. Internet users per 100
inhabitants
35 Albania
30
Bosnia &
25 Herzegovina
20 Croatia
15
Macedonia
10
Serbia &
5
Montenegro
0 Europe
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

7. Internet hosts per 10.000
inhabitants
400 Albania
350
300 Bosnia &
Herzegovina
250
Croatia
200
150 Macedonia
100
Serbia &
50 Montenegro
0 Europe
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

8. Age distribution of
Internet users
100%
90%
80%
70%
60% Over 45
50% 36 - 45
40% Below 36
30%
20%
10%
0%
Croatia Macedonia Serbia & EU25
Montenegro

9. Gender distribution of
Internet users
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
Female
50%
Male
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Bosnia & Croatia Macedonia Serbia & EU25
Herzegovina Montenegro

10. Residence distribution of
Internet users
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
Rural
50%
Urban
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Albania Bosnia & Croatia
Herzegovina

11. Widening the debate
 Income as an anchor determinant
 Infrastructure
 Literacy
 Beyond access: basic human right, not
a goal for itself

12. Income as an anchor
determinant (1)
Alb.
Internet users per
B&H
aggregate of
100.000 USD of GNI
Cro. per capita
Mac. Internet hosts per 1
million USD of
S&M GDP
Eur.
0 2 4 6

13. Income as an anchor
determinant (2)
Alb.
B&H
Cro.
Internet users per 1
computer
Mac.
S&M
Eur.
0 1 2 3 4

14. Infrastructure (1)
Alb.
B&H
Cro. Telephone
subscribers as
percentage of
Mac.
population
S&M
Eur.
0 50 100 150

15. Infrastructure (2)
Alb.
B&H
Cro. Internet users as
persentage of
telephone
Mac.
subscribers
S&M
Eur.
0 10 20 30 40

16. Literacy
 Computer (technological)
 Information
 Contextual (adaptive)
 Media creativity
 Social competence
 English language

17. Digital divide’s new frontier
 Beyond access
- Processing speed
- Quality of connection
- Supporting services
 Usage gap
- Usage patterns
- Accessible content

18. Reaching social inclusion
 Effective use of information resources
as a precondition for overcoming the
cumulative marginalisation from
production, consumption, social
networking and decision-making.