Digital Gap and Access to Internet: The Israeli Experience

Yaron Katz
Holon Institute of Technology

Abstract

The research examines the impact of technology on the digital gap in Israel. It looks at the counter relations between technology and society that characterizes Israel as a leading start-up nation which falls behind other countries in major social categories. On the one hand, it is a developed country with an advanced market economy and known as a “Start-up Nation”, and in contrast it is also a developing society with high rates of poverty and limited access to the Internet and the digital revolution, mainly among the minorities. As the research demonstrates, Israel is a prime example of the domination of technology over society. The country's development is a product of the digital revolution, although technology also has been negative for the socio-economic inequality, to what this research defines as the digital gap. This gap creates an interesting situation, in which despite the enormous impact of technology on the economy and efforts by the government to shrink the digital gap, Israel is still one of the most unequal economies. The contrast between technology and social development creates a gap in the exposure to the world of technology, with the result that advancements and improvements in technology are provoking differences between workers with high skills and those with lower skills in a way that workers that are not prepared or don`t know how to use new technologies are being penalized.

Presentation