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T he ubiquity of technology in developed parts of the world is simply astonishing. Almost everyone has a smartphone and access to high-speed Internet. But netizens do not necessarily assert their ascendancy — for them it is part and parcel of living in a "con- nected society ". No wonder that a handful of countries account for nearly 90% of the market capitalization value of the world's 70 largest digital platforms and over 75% of the cloud computing market (UNCTAD's Digital Economy Report, 2019). But what about less developed parts of the world, where the "connected population" is below 20%. ere is lile or no access to mobile networks and the Internet, let alone emerging technologies, which have the power to boost governance and decision-making — thereby boosting socio-economic development. Accord- ing to the World Economic Forum, among the many inequalities exposed by COVID-19, the digital divide is not only one of the starkest, but also among the most surprising. How we are divided A 2019 report (Measuring digital development: Facts & figures) by ITU's Telecommunication Development Bureau suggests that only 4.1 billion people, or just over 53% of the global population, are online, while a staggering 3.6 billion people are unconnected. Further, in 47 least developed nations, over 80% of the popu- lation is still offline. ITU data show that in the most extreme case, a mere 2% of the population is using the Internet. e report indicates that the women are lagging behind men in their ability to take advantage of the power of digital technologies in almost two thirds of countries around the world. "Access to connectivity is not a luxury, but a critical service to society. As we have witnessed today, our networks must remain resilient and responsive to citizens' immedi- ate needs — whether it is businesses (of all sizes), government institutions, education and healthcare systems, power utilities or transportation providers," says Mike Cala- brese, Vice President of Global Enterprise and Webscale at Nokia. Even in a fast-de- veloping country like India, there is Internet In 47 least developed nations, over 80% of population is still offline Women are lagging in terms of access to digital technologies in two thirds of countries around the world In the most extreme case, a mere 2% of population is using Internet In India, there is Internet density of 49.78%, which means that every second person is not connected In most parts of the world, digital divide is determined by factors such as location, income, gender, age, etc. www.geospatialworld.net | May-June 2020 13

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