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Top1. Introduction
The digital divide term is used to describe the discrepancy between people who have access and the resources to use new information and communication tools, such as the Internet, and people who do not have the resources and access to the technology (Kyriakidou et al., 2011). The term also describes the discrepancy between those who have the skills, knowledge and abilities to use the technologies and those who do not. The digital divide can exist between those living in rural areas and those living in urban areas, between the educated and uneducated, between economic classes, and on a global scale between more and less industrially developed nations.
Since gender, age, racial, income, and educational gaps in the digital divide have lessened compared to past levels, some researchers prognosticate that the digital divide is shifting from a gap in access and connectivity to ICTs to a knowledge divide. A knowledge divide concerning technology presents the possibility that the gap has moved beyond access and having the resources to connect to ICTs to interpreting and understanding information presented once connected (Graham, 2011). Classifying the main factors of digital divide can be seen on Figure 1.
Figure 1. Factors of digital divide
The economic factor means that individuals and communities don’t have access to a computer or an up-to-date Internet service (because of lack of money); many developing countries struggle to provide adequate telephone lines; PC hardware and software are simply too expensive for many people in the developing countries (Fuchs, 2009). The social factor formerly the digital divide was attributed to Internet Access (Jeffrey, 2007). Nowadays, most people have access to the Internet thanks to libraries, and Internet cafes etc. Many of today’s jobs require ICT skills and qualifications. People without an education in ICT are at a disadvantage and are unable to get work (Bozionelos, 2004). The geographical factor means that the availability of the Internet throughout the world shows large differences between world regions. This can be a result of lack of internet access/infrastructure, language and culture. In the case of the fear of technology factor many people do not use technology because they: are not confident about their own ability to use computer skills; fear that others will laugh at their attempts, therefore it is easier not to try; think they will cause a computer problem as they experiment and therefore prefer not to try; have heard or read news reports about computer fraud, Internet scams and identity theft. The lack of motivation factor exists for many people who are not prepared to put in the time and effort to learn something new. Some people link ICT with useless activities such as computer game playing, eyes damage, and other more sinister themes. In the cultural factor we can find the attitudes (some groups of people feel that ICT is for particular groups of people: the young, the brainy, middle class) and cultural attitudes as oral culture, personal communication, kinship and strong family values.
Innovation is the application of better solutions that meet new requirements, unarticulated needs, or existing market needs. This is accomplished through more effective products, processes, services, technologies, or ideas that are readily available to markets, governments and society. The term of innovation can be defined as something original and, as consequence, new that “breaks into” the market or society. Innovation is the development of new value through solutions that meet new needs, or adding value to old customers by providing new ways of maximizing their current level of productivity. It is the catalyst to growth.
While something novel is often described as an innovation, in economics, management science, and other fields of practice and analysis it is generally considered a process that brings together various novel ideas in a way that they have an impact on society. The robotics engineer (Engelberger,1982) asserts that innovations require only three things: