Reader Response (Draft 3) (Global digital divide persists but is narrowing)

Euromonitor's blogpost on ‘Global digital divide persists but is narrowing’ (2011) makes inferences from the statistics provided by Euromonitor International that developed economies will continue to enjoy higher broadband diffusion rate due to larger government expenditure, advanced IT framework and higher wages that allow ownership to computers. However, the developing countries are slowly catching up due to the rapid economic growth. This has led to a wide range of effects on the society, such as varying business opportunities, reducing urban-rural disparities with better information diffusion, social and cultural integration and altering government expenditure and policies.

In this blogpost, the author has raised many interesting issues related to global digital divide. However, given the length of the blogpost coupled with the scale of the topic restricted the author to discuss issues like the sustainability of growth and population demographics in detail. In this response, I will explore how sustainability of growth and population demographic has affected the global digital divide.

The statistics in Euromonitor International’s blogpost (2011) show clear signs that the developing countries are slowly catching up with the developed countries in terms of broadband diffusion rate. However, we must question the sustainability of such strong growth experienced by the developing country. With unforeseen circumstances like the recent outbreak of Ebola in the West African regions, governments in West Africa are diverting large amount of money to the containment of the virus. These funds do not appear out of nowhere. They are the results of reducing expenditure in other areas of developments of the country which results in a poorer performance in areas such as economic growth. Euromonitor International’s blogpost (2011) also mention that “The best-connected country in 2010 in terms of broadband enabled computers was South Korea...This is thanks to low costs, good IT infrastructure and high consumer incomes.”, and both government, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have launched many efforts to provide internet access for people. With the government and (NGOs) playing such a big role to create and maintain the strong growth of Internet diffusion rate in developing regions, the shift of focus from providing broadband access to resolve the recent Ebola crisis coupled with poorer economic performance will have a devastating impact on the growth of broadband penetration rate in the developing countries.

Another issue Euromonitor International blogpost failed to point out is the rural-urban disparity. This is very evident in most countries in the world. It is stated in the Go-Globe blogpost (2013) on ‘Internet usage in China- Statistics and Trends [Infographic]’ that 72.4% of the Internet users live in urban areas. However, according to The World Bank’s statistic, only 53% of China’s population living in the urban area as of 2013, the urban population has close to 3 times the internet penetration rate of the rural areas. Even with the exceptional growth of Internet penetration rate, most of it is attributed to the urban areas as they have better Information Technology (IT) framework and more attention from the government. This exceptional growth is largely due to the influence of the government as there are various benefits such as economic growth. This is very evident from the exponential economic growth and development experienced by states like ShangHai and BeiJing. However, this motivation is not as apparent for the rural area. More efforts and resources are needed to be able to achieve similar results seen in ShangHai and BeiJing. The lack of motivation causes the government to marginalise the rural areas and concentrate on the urban areas. The lack of resources in rural areas will eventually lead to a widening rural-urban disparity, resulting in many negative implications such as widening income gap.

Euromonitor International blogpost has pointed out various trends and analysed the demographics for Internet penetration rate, and is well supported with statistics. It also discussed the possible reasons and implications of these trends. However, in the case of China, it is obvious that the growth is not uniform between rural and urban areas and these will lead to many other social implications in the long run. Therefore, I believe that it is also very important to analyse the population demographic of a country thoroughly and dissect it accordingly to spot any underlying trends and observations. Given the amount of research, studies and observations required to fully dissect a country, it may be too much to ask for a blogpost. Overall, it is a very informative blogpost as it not only allows me to broaden my understanding on Internet penetration rates and its impacts, but also give me a chance to explore demographics that people have always failed to discuss due to the scale of the topic.

References:

Euromonitor International. (2011, February 2). Global digital divide persists but is narrowing. Retrieved August 25, 2014, from http://blog.euromonitor.com/2011/02/global-digital-divide-persists-but-is-narrowing-1.html

Go-Globe. (2013, August 14). Internet Usage in China – Statistics and Trends [Infographic]. Retrieved September 5, 2014 from http://www.go-globe.com/blog/internet-usage-china/

The World Bank. (n.d.). Urban Population (% of total). Retrieved September 5, 2014 from http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS

Essay Outline

Main topic area : Healthcare divide due to digital divide in Singapore

Main problem identified:
People who lack access to Information Communication Technology(ICT) tend to be less privileged, and are less well off in terms of health information and ability to afford for healthcare.

Proposed solutions:
Mobile phone reminders on medication, information on medical conditions and healthy lifestyle
Government policies to reduce cost of healthcare.

Proposed thesis:

Digital divide has inevitable led to the widening of healthcare divide for the IT illiterates in Singapore due to lack of information and lack of spending abilities, and this can be bridged if medical institutions make consistent effort to provide healthcare information through means like mobile phones messages and the Singapore government coming up with policies to provide more affordable healthcare.

Reader Response (Draft 2) (Global digital divide persists but is narrowing)

Euromonitor's blogpost on ‘Global digital divide persists but is narrowing’ (2011) makes inferences from the statistics provided by Euromonitor International that developed economies will continue to enjoy higher broadband diffusion rate due to larger government expenditure, advanced IT framework and higher wages that allow ownership to computers. However, the developing countries are slowly catching up due to the rapid economic growth. This has led to a wide range of effects on the society, such as varying business opportunities, reducing urban-rural disparities with better information diffusion, social and cultural integration and altering government expenditure and policies.

The statistics in Euromonitor International’s blogpost (2011), shows clear signs that the developing countries are slowly catching up with the developed countries in terms of broadband diffusion rate. However, we must question the sustainability of such strong growth experienced by the developing country. With unforeseen circumstances like the recent outbreak of Ebola in the West African regions, the Government is diverting large amount of money to the containment of the virus. These funds do not appear out of nowhere. They are the results of reducing expenditure in other areas of developments of the country which results in a poorer performance in areas such as economic growth. Euromonitor International’s blogpost (2011) also mention that “The best-connected country in 2010 in terms of broadband enabled computers was South Korea...This is thanks to low costs, good IT infrastructure and high consumer incomes.”, and both government, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have launched many efforts to provide internet access for people. With the government and (NGOs) playing such a big role to create and maintain the strong growth of Internet diffusion rate in developing regions, the shift of focus from providing broadband access to resolve the recent Ebola crisis coupled with poorer economic performance will have a devastating impact on the growth of broadband penetration rate in the developing countries.

Another issue Euromonitor International blogpost failed to point out is the rural-urban disparity. This is very evident in most countries in the world. It is stated in the Go-Globe blogpost (2013) on ‘Internet usage in China- Statistics and Trends [Infographic]’ that 72.4% of the Internet users live in urban areas. However, according to The World Bank’s statistic, only 53% of China’s population living in the urban area as of 2013, the urban population has close to 3 times the internet penetration rate of the rural areas. Even with the exceptional growth of Internet penetration rate, most of it is attributed to the urban areas as they have better Information Technology (IT) framework and more attention from the government. This exceptional growth is largely due to the influence of the government as there are various benefits such as economic growth. This is very evident from the exponential economic growth and development experienced by states like ShangHai and BeiJing. However, this motivation is not as apparent for the rural area. More efforts and resources are needed to be able to achieve similar results seen in ShangHai and BeiJing. The lack of motivation causes the government to marginalise the rural areas and concentrate on the urban areas. The lack of resources in rural areas will eventually lead to a widening rural-urban disparity, resulting in many negative implications such as widening income gap.

Euromonitor International blogpost has pointed out various trends and analysed the demographics for Internet penetration rate, and is well supported with statistics. It also discussed the possible reasons and implications of these trends. However, in the case of China, it is obvious that the growth is not uniform between rural and urban areas and these will lead to many other social implications in the long run. Therefore, I believe that it is also very important to analyse the population demographic of a country thoroughly and dissect it accordingly to spot any underlying trends and observations. Given the amount of research, studies and observations required to fully dissect a country, it may be too much to ask for a blogpost. Overall, it is a very informative blogpost as it not only allows me to broaden my understanding on Internet penetration rates and its impacts, but also give me a chance to explore demographics that people have always failed to discuss due to the scale of the topic.

References:

Euromonitor International. (2011, February 2). Global digital divide persists but is narrowing. Retrieved August 25, 2014, from http://blog.euromonitor.com/2011/02/global-digital-divide-persists-but-is-narrowing-1.html

Go-Globe. (2013, August 14). Internet Usage in China – Statistics and Trends [Infographic]. Retrieved September 5, 2014 from http://www.go-globe.com/blog/internet-usage-china/

The World Bank. (n.d.). Urban Population (% of total). Retrieved September 5, 2014 from http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS

A meaningful event that shaped my life

One of the many meaningful events that has shaped my life was when I enlisted into the National Service(NS). On the first day of enlistment, everyone was as lost as me. We did not know what to expect and what was expected of us. Before we enlisted, all we had heard was stories about the life in Army. The stories were usually very extreme and disheartening. I was a little afraid when I boarded the ferry and headed towards Tekong. I soon realised that the stories I heard outside were nowhere near the truth. My superiors were all around my age. They had all been through the same experience as us, and they knew how it feels like to be enlisted.  They would have wanted to make life easier for everybody. However, training and discipline standards had to be upheld as the sole purpose for enlistment was to defend the country when the need arose. Standards should not be compromised. NS was a fun experience for me as I not only managed to get fitter, and made a lot of close friends on the way, but I also changed. Many people believed that NS was actually useless, since they all believed that a war was not going to occur and NS should be abolished. However, one of the main reasons why a war might be considered unlikely was due to the strength of the Singapore Army and with the display of hi-tech weaponry during special occasions such as National Day Parade. This would be a form of deterrence for the enemy. Another reason why NS is important is because it is an aspect of Singapore culture. All boys who reached the age of 18 have to take on the responsibility to protect the country. Through all the tough training, discipline and regimentation, I have grown to become more mature. At the same time, I was given a chance to become a commander. This had allowed me to experience what it feels like to lead people, and to find out what kind of leadership style is most suitable for me.

[Edited] 

Reader Response (Draft 1) (Global digital divide persists but is narrowing)

Euromonitor's blogpost on ‘Global digital divide persists but is narrowing’ (2011) made inferences from the statistics provided by Euromonitor International that developed economies will continue to enjoy higher broadband diffusion rate due to larger government expenditure, advanced IT framework and higher wages that allow ownership to computers. However, the developing countries are slowly catching up due to the rapid economic growth. This has led to a wide range of effects on the society, such as varying business opportunities, reducing urban-rural disparities with better information diffusion, social and cultural integration and altering government expenditure and policies.

With the statistics provided in Euromonitor International’s blogpost (2011), it shows clear signs that the developing countries are slowly catching up with the developed countries in terms of broadband diffusion rate. However, we must question the sustainability of such strong growth experienced by the developing country. With unforeseen circumstances like the recent outbreak of Ebola in the West African regions, the Government is diverting large amount of money to the containment of the virus. These funds do not appear out of nowhere. They are the results of reducing expenditure in other areas of developments of the country which will result in a poorer performance in areas such as economic growth. Euromonitor International’s blogpost (2011) also mention that “The best-connected country in 2010 in terms of broadband enabled computers was South Korea...This is thanks to low costs, good IT infrastructure and high consumer incomes.”, and both government, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have launched many efforts to provide internet access for people. With the government and (NGOs) playing such a big role to create and maintain the strong growth of Internet diffusion rate in developing regions, the shift of focus from providing broadband access to resolve the recent Ebola crisis coupled with poorer economic performance will have a devastating impact on the growth of broadband penetration rate in the developing countries.

Another issue Euromonitor International blogpost has failed to point out is the rural-urban disparity. This is very evident in most countries in the world. It is stated in the Go-Globe blogpost (2013) on ‘Internet usage in China- Statistics and Trends [Infographic]’ that 72.4% of the Internet users live in urban areas. However, according to The World Bank’s statistic, only 53% of China’s population living in the urban area as of 2013, the urban population has close to 3 times the internet penetration rate as compared to that of the rural areas. Even with the exceptional growth of Internet penetration rate, most of it is attributed to the urban areas due to having better Information Technology (IT) framework and more attention from the government. The exceptional growth is largely due to the influence of the government due to the various benefits they can reap from it, such as economic growth, and this is very evident from the exponential economic growth and development experienced by states like ShangHai and BeiJing. This motivation is not as apparent for the rural area. A lot more efforts and resources will be needed to be able to achieve similar results seen in ShangHai and BeiJing. This actually deters the government from placing large amount of resources into rural areas and concentrate on the urban areas, eventually leading to a widening rural-urban disparity which will lead to many other negative implications on the society such as widening of income gap.

Euromonitor International blogpost has pointed out various trends and analyse the reason for Internet penetration rate and is well supported with statistics. It also discussed the possible reasons and implications of these trends. However, from my example, China, it is obvious that the growth is not uniform between rural and urban areas and these will lead to many other social implications in the long run. Therefore, I believe that it is also very important to analyse the demographic of a country thoroughly and dissect it accordingly to spot any underlying trends and observations. However, given the amount of research, studies and observations required to fully dissect a country, it may be too much to ask for a blogpost. Overall, it is a good read as it not only allows me to broaden my understanding on Internet penetration rates and its impacts, but also give me a chance to explore demographics that people have always failed to discuss due to the scale of the topic.

References:

Euromonitor International. (2011, February 2). Global digital divide persists but is narrowing. Retrieved August 25, 2014, from http://blog.euromonitor.com/2011/02/global-digital-divide-persists-but-is-narrowing-1.html

Go-Globe. (2013, August 14). Internet Usage in China – Statistics and Trends [Infographic]. Retrieved September 5, 2014 from http://www.go-globe.com/blog/internet-usage-china/

The World Bank. (n.d.). Urban Population (% of total). Retrieved September 5, 2014 from http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS

D1 Summarising Information Selectively Practice

Leake and Warren(2009) stated that The Ohio Report observed that Facebook users tend to under-perform notably in academic assessments due to prioritizing using Facebook over studying.