People who live in highly developed countries often take access to information technology for granted. They find it hard to imagine a world in which this technology does not bring greater prosperity. However, as the IT revolution moves forward in some parts of the world, in other parts of the world the poor are falling further and further behind. Indeed there are many barriers to wider IT access and its potential benefits.
Firstly, in some countries that are undeveloped, a large majority of people are especially likely to be illiterate. In fact, research shows that while in the highly developed nations, fewer than fifty percent of the population cannot read. This piece of evidence shows that in the highly developed countries, nearly all of the people are knowledgeable of what is happening in different parts of the world and also in their own country, whereas in the countries that are still struggling with poverty, a huge group of residents cannot access information technology. This large proportion of illiteracy could be a serious problem for the more undeveloped countries, as it increases the inequality in the world.
Secondly, the undeveloped countries also have a major problem: the inadequacy of the basic infrastructure. This directly leads to how much people can access the internet in a certain country. If the government didn’t supply their people with infrastructure, the people don’t have the time to notice what is happening online as they already have problems with their daily lives. And because of poverty, the government also has financial problems, so they can’t help their people with their infrastructure.
In conclusion, I believe that even though the highly developed countries can use this technology to bring them into a better world, the other countries need to fix their own problems first, as it is essential for their development.