A Conceptual Framework for Examining Digital Inequality

As information and communication technologies (ICT) are disseminated into inner-city communities, we tend to assume that broader access will naturally improve the life chances of the local actors that live in these historically underserved neighborhoods. However it is also prudent to challenge this assumption through an examination of the unintentional effects. Using empirical examples from an ethnographic study of a community technology initiative, this paper presents a conceptual framework for examining the roles of technology, culture capital, social capital, economic capital, and institutions in shaping the emerging pattern of digital inequality that reflects disparities in the structure of access to and use of ICT.