Wednesday, 5 November 2014

Essay Draft 3


Singapore is often described as the high wired society, the penetration of mobile telephony, PCs and the Internet is extremely high in Singapore. It has one of the highest mobile penetration rates in the world at 76 per cent (Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, 2003). Yet, there still exist a ‘digital divide’ between the low income group and the rest of the society, specifically students, because this ‘digital divide’ has not been addressed comprehensively to fully bridge the gap between the low income group and the rest of the society. This will leave the low-income group in the vicious cycle of poverty and isolation. Therefore, this essay will pinpoint the reasons for and problems of ‘digital divide’, evaluate previous IDA’s efforts made to address this ‘digital divide’ and propose building computer hubs under HDBs which I believe would be more successful in bridging the gap between the low income groups and the rest of the society in Singapore.

The root causes of this isolationism are their inability to afford computers and broadband and the lack of knowledge towards the usage and the importance of technology. The inability of the low income to stay connected has a significant impact on their studies as many schools have become more active to engage in online learning. Furthermore, students are more and more dependent on online research for study purpose and hence this would put low-income students as a disadvantage. In other words, lacking behind the rest of the society in the technological could result in not just a digital divide but social divide. Therefore, it is important to bridge the gap between the students of low income group and the rest of the society in Singapore so that they could be saved from the vicious cycle of poverty.
                                                                                                                         
Many attempts by IDA have been made to bridge this ‘digital divide’ by making technology more affordable for the low income group. For example, IDA's NEU PC Plus programme offers students from low income families the opportunity to own a new computer at a discount of up to 75 per cent. Adding on to that, IDA also has a broadband-only scheme for students who already own computers but cannot afford broadband subscriptions. They pay only $1.50 monthly for 36 months for a fixed-line or mobile broadband subscription. (Tham, 2014) However, the subsidy can be only be given to customers of specific telecommunication brand such as SingTel and M1. Furthermore, the connection rate provided in the broadband subscription is not adequate for multitasking and may even have difficulty entering a school's secure portal to download assignments (Tham, 2014). Even though this attempt did address the root cause of the lower income group’s inability to afford technology, the services provided by this subsidy was definitely not enough to bridge this ‘digital divide’. The low income group are still at a lower level than the rest of the society in the world of technology. In order to successfully bridge the gap, efforts made should efficiently help the low income groups to be on the same level as the rest of the society so that they can escape the vicious cycle of poverty.

With that, a comprehensive solution to this persistent problem could be to build a computer hub under HDB districts so as help the isolated low income groups students integrate to a well-connected society. Similar to the implementation of building a mini lounge with a shared television and benches for the elderlies under HDB flats, it is feasible for IDA to build an exclusive computer hub for the lower-income groups. The hub would consists of computers, printers and a beginner’s guide book on the basic and fundamental functions such as Microsoft Word and E-mail. Unlike other IT courses introduced in Community Centres, the access to these computer hubs should be made free. The exclusiveness could be maintained through creating an exclusive access pass for the lower-income group to enter the room, so the middle and high income group will not make use of their privilege.

In essence, the low income groups are isolated and stuck in the vicious cycle of poverty due to the inability to afford and understand technology. In order to effectively bridge this gap between the low income group and the rest pf the society in Singapore, the low income group must be at the same page of progression in the world of technology. Thus only by making exclusive privilege for the low income group, they will be included in the society.



References
Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (2003). Decision Paper: Charging for Mobile Phone Services: Mobile-Party-Pays ("MPP") vs Calling-Party-Pays ("CPP"). Singapore, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore. 2003: 5.

Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (2014) 2013: Putting Singapore tech on the world stage. (2014, January 3). Infocomm News from Singapore. Retrieved September 30, 2014, from http://www.ida.gov.sg/blog/insg/featured/2013-putting-singapore-tech-on-the-world-stage/

Tham, I. (2014, March 14). Bridging the digital divide. Asia One Singapore. Retrieved September 30, 2014, from http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/bridging-digital-divide


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