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Eurocitie E Inclusion Demand And Offer Digital Divides
1. “Demand and Offer Related Digital
Divides: The Piedmont Experience”
Experience”
EUROPEAN KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY FORUM
23rd – 25th October 2008
AMAROUSSION - Hellas
Dr. Enrico Ferro
2. Why Caring about Digital Divide?
• Importance of eInclusion has been widely recognized (pillar
of i2010 strategy)
• N t j t a matter of social equality, b t a problem of strategic
Not just tt f il lit but bl ftt i
importance in the global race for competitiveness
• Th
Thomas F i d
Friedman i the b k “
in h book “world i fl ” argues the
ld is flat” h
increased importance of individuals as key the economic
agents
• “The world did not expect the second wave of Internet
innovation to be led by consumers rather than companies
y p
(myspace, youtube, 2L, facebook, etc..)” interview to
CYSCO’s CEO.
1
3. Types of Digital Divides
DIGITAL DIVIDE TAXONOMY
1. Availability of PCs and Internet 1. Lack of e-Government service
OFFER
connections in schools and public places provisioning in small municipalities
2. Availability of broadband networks
2. Diffusion of WAI compliant websites
outside metropolitan areas
id li
Geographic
Divides
ND
1. Gap associated to age, gender, 1. Lower penetration of PC and Fast Internet
DEMAN
education and income
d ti di connections i rural vs. metropolitan areas
ti in l t lit
2. Gap associated to enterprise size, sector 2. Less training and lower ICT usage in
of activity and type of management small Public Administrations
INTRA-MUNICIPAL INTER-MUNICIPAL
(Social Classes) (Geographic Areas)
4. The Piedmont C
Th Pi d t Case
• Background information:
– 1206 Municipalities
p
– 90% of which below 5000
inhabitants
– Around 40% of the population
lives in rural areas
– As of 2005 30% of
municipalities reached by DSL
services
i
5. The WI-PIE Programme
• Recently recognized by the EU Commission as a b practice i
R l i db h C ii best i in
Europe through a “fast track” INTERREG capitalization project
named: B3 Regions.
• ACTION LINES:
– Understand and keep under control the phenomenon through a regular
monitoring and study activity (Observatory)
– Promote the experimentation of Alternative Technological Solutions:
• Satellite + HyperLAN + WiFi / Satellite + Copper wire / WiMAX
Sate te ype NW Sate te Coppe w e W
– Favor the development of broadband enabled services (break chicken and
egg problem - BB better sold in bundles)
– Creation of distributed GigaPops to be used as test beds for the creation of
interactive multimedia services
– Provide fast access to schools and universities
4
6. Guiding Criteria
• Selectivity: technological and economical model
efficiency;
y;
• No overlapping on market action and interventions
supportability;
t bilit
• Coherence with national and international
Co e e ce w t at o a a d te at o a
initiative
• T h l i l neutrality and O
Technological li d Open A
Access
5
8. Agreement with Telecom Italia
• Incumbent operator (TI) has agreed to
cover 1029 municipalities out of 1206
– Focus infrastructure related actions on a limited
number of municipalities 177
– Government may hence concentrate on
stimulating demand
7
9. Digital Divide Dynamics
N connection i
No
N ti
Broad Band Narrow B d
Band Nessuna connessione
B dB d N
100%
80%
50%
53%
53%
54%
55% 59%
60%
13%
40% 21%
26%
37%
39% 37%
20% 37%
26%
21%
9%
5% 4%
0%
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
• Broadband penetration has increased among I/net
users
• No “technology push” effect on excluded people
8
10. Digital Divide Dynamics (II)
2003 2005 2006 2007
90%
HOUT
80%
an Interne Connection
70%
% of Households WITH
60%
50%
40%
et
30%
20%
10%
a
o
0%
1 n. familiare=1 n. familiare=2 e reddito n. familiare=2 e reddito n. familiare>2 2
person 2 people 2 people More than
≤2000 >2000
Income <2000€ Income >2000€ people
HOUSEHOLD TYPES IDENTIFIED
• Very limited opt-in dynamics within clusters over time
• High resistance to change 9
11. Open issues
issues…
• Are i2010 objectives realistic?
• May a multiplatform approach help to find a
solution?
• Should we start talking about the concept of digital
choice?
hi ?
• How should public policies evolve to face changing
issues? Focus should be on demand since:
i ?F h ld b d di
– Its reduces market perturbations
– It is the only real technology neutral action
– It fosters the creation of complementary services
– Life long learning prevents the birth of second order
divides
10
