The Digital Divide – What Side Will You Be On?

Over the few days between Xmas and New Year, I had an opportunity to join the ‘non-Internet’ world again as my parents-in-law live on a farm without broadband and wifi.

Whilst enjoying the views of the ocean and rainforest around me, I happened to read an article in the Australian Financial Review titled “The Prince Charles Syndrome”.

The basic premise of the piece was that whilst the Baby Boomer generation are starting to reach retirement age and leave the corporate environment, Gen X (born 65-79) are starting to be overtaken by the current tech-savvy upstarts, Gen Y. This phenomenon has been compared to a similar situation (dubbed the Prince Charles Syndrome) with the current heir to the English throne as speculation rises that Charles could possibly either die or get overtaken to the throne by Prince William and thus never fulfil his ambition to being crowned King of England.

It got me thinking – with the speed at which technology changes, is there a danger that normal people will be left behind? And to be more specific, will entrepreneurs need to embrace technology or will they survive without it?

Seeing we’ve just started a new decade, I did some research and came up with some interesting facts based on how technology has progressed in the last 10 years since 2000.

At the start of 2000:

* There were NO major social networks (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, MySpace)
* There was no online video sharing to speak of (YouTube was founded in 2005!)
* Only .03% of US households had broadband (current penetration is 67%)
* Only 15% of US households had a mobile phone (current figure around 90%)
* MP3 players were almost unknown (today around 75% ownership)
* There was no paypal or similar 3rd party payment system

And my favourite statistic – No-one really used Google (it was founded in 1999).

There is an ever-increasing Digital Divide between people who have the skills and knowledge to use the Internet in their daily lives and those that don’t. The developments of the last 10 years will also pale into comparison when compared with the advancements in techology predicted over the next 10 years. If the effects of the Internet over the past decade have been so amazing now, what sort of effects will the Internet have on our lives in this new decade!

The Digital Divide between those empowered with Internet knowledge, skills and availability and those that don’t will be immense.

I feel relieved that I have the last 20 years of IT industry experience to help me ease into whatever technologies may arise, and I take great comfort in the fact that my children have access to my knowledge on a one-to-one level.

But my overriding concern is for those people not only in the Western world, but those less fortunate who don’t have the opportunity to experience and participate in the online world. Only a very small percentage of people actually actively participate on forums, blogs and other social networks. These people, this miniscule minority, will become the future leaders and visionaries as they will have the knowledge to utilise these new Internet technologies that will pervade every aspect of our lives.

The famous saying by Sir Francis Bacon “Knowledge is Power” is going to be the ultimate truth in the years to come, and I for one will make sure that I’m on the side that has the power.

You are one of the lucky ones; you have been blessed with the myriad of opportunities that eventually allowed you to get access to the Internet and read blog posts like this one. You are aware of the unlimited potential benefits and opportunities that are afforded you simply because you now how to harness the ‘Net.

But don’t be complacent – keep up with the latest technologies as they arise and learn how to implement and incorporate them into everything possible, for it is the knowledge of how to use these technologies that will effect your future in more ways than you ever thought possible.

I’ve leave you with one last statistic for you. At the moment, only 25% of the world has access to the Internet in some form or another. What sort of effect do you think another several billion people in the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China) will have on your potential market base when they come online? Are you going to be there to welcome them?