Will the Spread of Digital Technologies Spell the End of the Knowledge Divide ?

1 Digital technologies can help in expanding and democratizing knowledge by evenly spreading it between the developed core and the developing peripheries. Evidence suggests that digital technologies are in fact helping to expand knowledge, but are not succeeding in democratizing it. That is, digital technologies are helping to bridge the digital divide (narrowly defined), but are insufficient to close the knowledge divide. Democratizing knowledge is more than a matter of connectivity and access to digital devices. It requires strengthening the “analog foundations” of the digital revolution—competition, education (skills), and institutions—that directly affect the ability of businesses, people, and governments to take full advantage of their digital investments.1