ANTECEDENTS OF THE DIGITAL DIVIDE IN LEBANON

Abstract

This paper reports the results of a study to investigate the digital divide in Lebanon based on data collected in August 2008 from 330 potential users of Lebanese public e-services. The study investigated factors that make a difference for e-access and e-skills and how socio-economic, demographic, and cultural factors explain the digital divide. Overall, results show that gender, age, religion, and geographic disparities related to income, to educational attainment, and to occupation influence the e-skills and e-access divides. Income and education have effects on e-skills but no effect on the e-access divide. When educational attainment increases, the e-skills divide decreases. Gender and religion have an impact on the e-skills divide but no significant impact on the e-access divide: men and Christians have more e-skills than women and Muslims. The impact of urban-rural disparities is unambiguous. Age is the only factor that impacts both the e-access and e-skills divide. Young urban males with high income and high educational attainment levels have more advanced eskills than their less advantaged counterparts; thus, these elite members of the Lebanese society are expected to benefit from the advantages of public online services. That will, however, not be the case of those in the less advantaged segments of the population. Inequalities in Lebanese society will continue.

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