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eForesee malta-ict: FW: report "Digital Divide in Estonia and How to Bridge it"

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  • Subject: eForesee malta-ict: FW: report "Digital Divide in Estonia and How to Bridge it"
  • From: "Tarmo Kalvet"
  • Date: Wed, 2 Oct 2002 17:56:50 +0300

> ---
> DIGITAL DIVIDE UNDER FOCUS IN ESTONIA: A THIRD OF INTERNET 
> NON-USERS WISH TO USE INTERNET, BUT LACK SKILLS AND ACCESS
> 
> Tallinn, 2 October 2002
> 
> The Open Society Institute in Budapest (OSI) and the 
> International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) 
> co-financed the research which was presented this week in 
> Tallinn, Estonia: "Digital Divide in Estonia and How to 
> Bridge it." If until now, mainly the economic aspects of the 
> digital divide have been studied in Estonia, this new 
> research project concentrates on social and psychological 
> issues. The research was initiated by the Open Estonia 
> Foundation, the Look@World Foundation and the State Chancellery
> 
> Estonia is one of the most rapidly developing information 
> societies in Central and Eastern Europe. Still, 61% of the 
> Estonian adult population does not use the Internet. The 
> analysis, carried out by the research company Emor and PRAXIS 
> Center for Policy Studies, looked thoroughly at the reasons 
> and motivation for not using the Internet of this particular 
> population group. The research did not address the issue of 
> the digital divide between countries.
> 
> The research clearly shows that one third of the current 
> non-users understand the opportunities offered by the 
> Internet and want to take advantage of them, but are limited 
> by a lack of skills and access. Two-thirds of the non-users 
> (40% of the adult population) do not consciously think of the 
> Internet as of an interesting and useful tool; more practical 
> services and an awareness campaign are thus needed for them. 
> The latter group depends on daily routine and already 
> shaped-out habits - it is hard for them to accept the 
> Internet as a new channel of information and management of 
> public affairs.
> 
> The research draws several interesting conclusions. Among 
> them is that people believe that an Internet bank as a fully 
> developed web-service is a trustworthy partner for managing 
> one's business independently. At the same time, regarding 
> public sector e-services, people are certain that much 
> depends on the discretion of the public servant and that 
> therefore electronic services do not suffice. Hence, if the 
> public sector were able to offer its services fully on the 
> web like Internet banks, its reliability will increase and 
> negative opinions decline.
> 
> The fact that "light-users" of the Internet do not consider 
> security on the net a problem is an acknowledgement of the 
> successful efforts by service providers so far. Medical 
> services were pointed out most often by the present non-users 
> as having the potential to motivate them to start using the Internet.
> 
> PRAXIS and Emor also compiled policy recommendations based on 
> the research results, which are all listed in the final report.
> 
> The research was carried out by Emor and PRAXIS Center for 
> Policy Studies from January to July 2002. The research was 
> commissioned and financed by the Open Estonia Foundation, the 
> Look@World Foundation and the State Chancellery of the 
> Republic of Estonia. It was co-financed by the International 
> Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the Open 
> Society Institute in Budapest (OSI - Budapest).
> 
> The research results are available for free, in English, 
> Russian and Estonian, in the full final report on the web at 
http://www.oef.org.ee/. For the executive summary, see
http://www.praxis.ee
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