Digitally Divided

Kavita Philip’s article gave a severe example of the destruction that can be caused by a digital divide. The concept of “sameness and difference” (pg. 6) that is talked about along with the reinforcement of “certain moral and political economies” tells a lot about why a large gap in technology continues to exist when life saving systems are readily available.

An underlying idea I got from this article was that more resources are being put into maintaining our current failed state than are being put into thinking about systems that can potentially save thousands of lives. Another key concept was that social conditions are one of the most important factors of the digital divide. As Philip puts it, we need to take on “the more complicated and messy task of describing the networks, exchanges, and cross fertilizations that contaminate the supposed purity of the terms ‘‘tradition,’’ ‘‘modernity,’’ ‘‘science,’’ ‘‘indigeneity,’’ etc.” (pg.7) I would add to this and say that politicians need to better understand the role that technology plays in everyday life and work with technologists to devise systems that better serve their constituents.