Digital divide and social inclusion: policy challenge for social development in Hong Kong and South Korea

Figures & data

Table 1. ICT Development Index (IDI) of select high-ranking countries (2002 and 2007)

Economy	Rank 2007	IDI 2007	Rank 2002	IDI 2002
Sweden	1	7.50	1	6.05
South Korea	2	7.26	3	5.83
Demark	3	7.22	4	5.78
The Netherlands	4	7.14	6	5.43
Finland	9	6.79	8	5.38
United Kingdom	10	6.78	10	5.27
Hong Kong, China	11	6.70	12	5.10
Japan	12	6.64	18	4.82
Germany	13	6.61	14	5.02
Austria	14	6.58	13	5.02
Singapore	15	6.57	16	4.83
United States	17	6.44	11	5.25
Taiwan	25	6.04	17	4.82
China	73	3.11	90	1.95
Source: ITU (2009, p. 22). Asian countries are highlighted for easy reference.

Table 2. The digital divide in the USA, Hong Kong and South Korea

Population groups	USA	South Korea	Hong Kong
	Internet users (%)
Gender
Male	78%	82.4%	70.0%
Female	75%	71.9%	63.5%
Age
60–71	56% (62–71)	20.1% (60 or above)	7.0% (65 or above)
71+	29%
Low income	61% (≤$40,000)^a	48.4^b	37.0^c
	91% ($40,000+)
All	76%	77.6%	66.7%^d
Age groups	Completed secondary school education ^e (%)
25–34	87%	97%	79%
55–64	87%	37%	32%
^aEstabrook and Rainie (2007).
^bFigure indicates situation at the end of 2006 (Cho 2007). Low income refers to those entitled for ‘Low Income Subsidiary Scheme’.
^cPer cent of households having a computer at home (74.6% for all households); low income for Hong Kong refers to those with less than HK$10,000 a month (14.7% of households); the median household income was HK$22,800 in 2008 (C&SD 2008).
^dAge 10 or above, 2008 figure (C&SD 2008).
^eOECD (2009); Hong Kong figures come from C&SD (2008).

Figure 1. Conceptual framework of digital inclusion.

Table 3. Weighting of items for the Personal Informatization Score

Grand-category	Category	Sub-category
Access (0.3) 30 points	Ownership of IT devices (0.2) 6 points	PC ownership (0.4) 2.4 points^a
		Home Internet connection (0.4) 2.4 points
		Ownership of wireless Internet device (0.2) 1.2 points
	Availability of IT devices (0.6) 18 points	Availability of PC when needed (0.17) 3 points
		Ease of access PC (0.33) 6 points
		Availability of the Internet when needed (0.17) 3 points
		Ease of access to the Internet (0.33) 6 points
	Quality of IT devices (0.2) 6 points	Quality of PC (0.5) 3 points
		Quality of Internet connection (0.5) 3 points
Capacity (0.2) 20 points	Capacity to use computer (0.5) 10 points	Ability to use eight computer-related items (1) 10 points
	Capacity to use the Internet (0.5) 10 points	Ability to use nine Internet-related items (1) 10 points
Utilization (0.5) 50 points	Quantity of usage (0.6) 30 points	Usage of PC/the Internet (0.7) 21 points
		Average hours of usage PC/Internet (0.3) 9 points
	Quality of usage (0.4) 20 points	Usefulness on five areas of Internet activities (0.5) 10 points
		Usage of needed Internet/computer activities (0.5) 10 points
Source: KADO, Survey for the measurement of the digital divide in 2004 (cited in ITU 2005, p. 95).
^aThe points indicate the maximum possible points of the categories/sub-categories.

Table 4. Comparison of Personal Informatization Scores

	Category^a
Population Groups	Access (0.3)	Capacity (0.2)	Quantity of Usage (0.3)	Quality of Usage (0.2)	Personal Informatization Score
General population	89.1	37.4	63.5	38.7	61.0
	Relative Personal Informatization Score (General population = 100)
Farmers/Fishermen	69.5	29.1	38.1	31.3	49.8
Low-income people	79.6	67.1	69.3	64.9	73.0
People with disabilities	85.4	61.0	67.8	62.0	73.9
The elderly	82.9	32.4	41.7	39.5	58.4
^aThe range of scores for each category is 0 to 100. Source: Cho (2007).

Figure 2. Digital Gini Ratio in Korea for 2004.

Table 5. Indicators of the Digital Inclusion Index

	Older people	New arrivals	Single parents	Female homemakers	Children (low income)	PWD/CIs^a	All disadvantaged persons	Non-disadvantaged persons
No. of individuals	1107	296	61	452	277	966	2312	284
Indicators
Accessibility sub-index
% having a computer at home	46.4	64.2	65.6	69.9	70.4	50.6	58.6	91.1
% having a computer connected to the Internet at home (for those having a computer at home)	92.8	93.7	95.0	94.3	94.9	92.4	93.9	97.8
% who can use a computer without permission (for those who have used a computer and have a home computer)	95.4	98.3	93.3	91.1	85.8	90.1	91.1	96.4
% having no constraints in using software (for those who have used a computer and have a home computer)	100.0	95.0	100.0	100.0	97.9	99.3	98.1	95.3
% who have a broadband connection (for those with a home computer connected to the Internet)	97.0	98.8	97.3	97.9	96.1	96.2	97.3	98.3
Knowledge sub-index
% having a medium or above level of knowledge about using computers	1.7	24.7	14.8	1.3	41.2	6.8	11.8	58.1
% having a medium or above level of knowledge about using the Internet	1.6	24.3	13.1	2.0	41.9	7.2	11.9	57.8
% know in general/know well how to search information	4.4	42.2	24.6	5.1	68.6	11.7	20.4	69.7
% know in general/know well how to send email	3.5	39.2	24.6	3.5	64.6	10.6	18.8	68.5
% know in general/know well how to join chat rooms, forums	2.3	29.4	19.7	2.0	56.3	7.9	14.8	57.7
% know in general/know well how to shop online	1.3	14.5	14.8	1.5	27.8	5.7	8.3	38.8
% know in general/know well how to get e-service	1.2	15.5	18.0	1.1	30.3	5.8	8.8	44.4
% know in general/know well how to publish a web page	0.5	15.5	9.8	0.2	30.7	3.0	7.2	27.5
% having taken computer training course(s)	0.5	8.1	11.5	1.3	14.4	2.0	3.8	10.7
Usage sub-index
% having ever used a computer	6.7	51.4	31.1	10.6	84.8	16.4	26.4	78.6
% ever having used the Internet (among computer users)	85.1	94.7	84.2	83.3	96.6	90.5	93.3	99.0
% who use the Internet daily (those who have used a computer)	44.4	54.9	50.0	35.0	52.0	49.0	51.7	68.0
Average hours online each time	1.26	2.11	1.86	1.78	2.31	2.48	2.23	2.35
% who have searched for information (those who have used the Internet in the last 3 months)	96.6	92.8	100.0	97.1	87.7	92.5	92.4	95.9
% who have sent email, etc. (those who have used the Internet in the last 3 months)	50.0	71.2	56.3	42.9	64.1	71.4	66.3	81.2
% who have used chat rooms, instant messaging or forums (those who have used the Internet in the last 3 months)	10.3	46.8	18.8	20.0	51.8	27.1	39.8	44.3
% who have shopped online (those who have used the Internet in the last 3 months)	1.7	2.2	0.0	5.7	2.7	17.3	5.9	8.4
% who have used e-service (those who have used the Internet in the last 3 months)	5.2	4.3	0.0	2.9	5.5	6.0	5.2	9.9
% who have published a web page (those who have used the Internet in the last 3 months)	1.7	8.6	0.0	0.0	10.5	3.8	7.6	10.1
Affordability sub-index
% of people living in households with equal to or higher than the median household income for their household size	47.7	68.6	45.8	59.7	0.0%	51.8	50.4	96.1
^aPWD/CIs stands for persons with disabilities/chronic illnesses.

Table 6. Digital Inclusion Index (DII) scores for the major disadvantaged groups

Sub-indexes	Older people	New immigrants	Single parents	Female homemakers	Children (low income)	PWD/CI^a	All Disadvantaged persons
Accessibility	0.50	0.70	0.71	0.75	0.72	0.53	0.62
Usage	0.04	0.50	0.19	0.06	0.88	0.17	0.26
Knowledge	0.04	0.52	0.41	0.05	0.92	0.14	0.25
Affordability	0.50	0.71	0.48	0.62	0.00	0.54	0.52
DII	0.27	0.61	0.45	0.37	0.63	0.35	0.41
The index ranges from 0 to 1 for disadvantaged groups. The higher the value, the closer is the group to the non-disadvantaged groups in terms of ICT accessibility, knowledge, usage and affordability.
^aPWD/CIs stands for persons with disabilities/chronic illnesses.

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