Harbinger of a Dilemma: an Evaluation of the Digital Divide and E-Government Strategies on the Isle Of Man

The ‘digital divide’, which is defined as the gap that exists between those with and those without access to the Internet, (i.e. the digital ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’) has been widely debated. The main protagonists are split broadly into two groups, the technology ‘optimists’ and the technology ‘pessimists’. Conventional wisdom is represented by the optimists’ view that the divide is caused by societal barriers to Internet connectivity such as low levels of education, income and proliferation of technology. The pessimists disagree that these barriers cause the divide or that they are important enough to justify significant expenditure by governments in addressing them, e.g. through e-Government programmes. This paper reports on a study to evaluate the validity of the optimistic position. The Isle of Man (IOM) was selected for this evaluation because of its size, social stability, high levels of education and income, and established e-Government programme. The premise of the research was that if the optimistic view is correct, lower or similar barriers to those found in the UK should result in higher or similar levels of Internet access in the IOM. A review of the IOM’s historical and economic background provided a general context for the evaluation process. Members of the IOM Government were surveyed to determine the quality of their e-Government programme. Quality was tested through comparison with a similar survey of the US Federal e-Government programme, which is a recognised benchmark. The result was that the IOM programme compared favourably with the US one and, by implication, that of the UK, and was additionally expected by the interviewees to be a key variable in materially narrowing the digital divide on the Island. The remaining research activity was based on establishing the relative levels of age, education, and income between the IOM and the UK. These prime causal factors of the digital divide, as purported by the optimists, were found to marginally favour the IOM. However, the test of Internet access revealed that the IOM trailed the UK connectivity level by between 12% to 14%; a diametrically opposite result to that expected based on the optimistic viewpoint. This unexpected outcome could constitute a dilemma for the IOM Government and those with similar e-Government and digital divide challenges. A key question for governments arising from limited Internet usage is that legacy systems and processes may have to be perpetuated indefinitely. This will, at best, delay many of the benefits and savings often associated with e-Government and lead to incremental stakeholder costs and possible inconvenience for the foreseeable future. G Ryder, W Skok Digital Divide: e-Government Impact on Isle of Man 7th Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems, 10-13 July 2003, Adelaide, South Australia Page 30 Further investigation should shed still more light on this result and in time definitively confirm if the significant monies being spent on e-Government and the challenge of the digital divide qualifies as wise investment or optimistic folly.