The digital divide in Vietnam refers to inequalities between individuals, households, and other groups of different demographic and socioeconomic levels in Vietnam in access to information and communication technologies ("ICTs") and in the knowledge and skills needed to effectively use the information gained from connecting.[1][2][3][4]

The digital divide in Vietnam stems from sociopolitical, economic, and technological issues, but over the last decade the country has made great strides in providing large-scale Internet access and more lax restrictions in order to bridge this gap. Though the majority of Vietnam is rural, more than half of the country's population has access to the Internet. Despite these limitations on technology, organizations around the world are working directly with the people of Vietnam to close the digital divide.

Internet demographics

Vietnam has a population of 96 million people, and 34.9%[5] of the population is urban. Despite this, 53%[6] of the country's population currently has access to the Internet. According to a study conducted by market research company Statista[7] in 2016, more than 91 percent of daily Internet users were between the ages of 25 and 34.[8] However, despite the expansion in access, Internet quality remains poor in rural areas, and Vietnam ranks 16th[6] among other Asian countries with the most Internet users. Vietnam also has a slower average data transfer speed than neighbor countries. Compared to Singapore's average of 16.5 Mbit/s, Vietnam's average is 5.0 Mbit/s.[9]

Government censorship

For individuals with access to the Internet, government censorship becomes another obstacle because the three Internet service providers in Vietnam (FPT Telecom,[10] Viet Nam Post and Telecommunications Corporation,[11] and Viettel[12]) are owned by the government and military.[13] The Vietnamese government restricts user access to websites that are critical of the government or feature politically sensitive content, as well as the websites of select human rights organizations.[13] In 2016, Facebook and Instagram were temporarily blocked in an effort by the government to crack down on social media due to rising unrest in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City,[14] where hundreds of citizens protested in city streets regarding the government's delayed response to an environmental disaster in which millions of dead fish washed ashore. It was believed by locals to be the fault of Formosa Plastics.[14]

Increasing information and communication technology

In 2011, The World Bank extended a project for an additional two years in an attempt to complete the process of installing software and conducting training. This technology and training would potentially allow for the expansion of small businesses, enhance current operating systems and disseminate information on a larger scale. Due to the slow Internet speeds in Vietnam, obtaining information was difficult. However, this attempt at closing the digital divide was unsuccessful and expensive, totaling 106.97 million US dollars.[15] Although this project was unsuccessful, organizations are still working to solve the issue of the digital divide.

References

  1. ↑ Norris, P. 2001. Digital divide: Civic engagement, information poverty and the Internet world- wide. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge Univ. Press.
  2. ↑ "FALLING THROUGH THE NET: A Survey of the "Have Nots" in Rural and Urban America". doc.gov.
  3. ↑ Patricia, J.P. 2003. 'E-government, E-Asean Task force, UNDP-APDIP'(PDF)
  4. ↑ Mossberger, K., C.J. Tolbert, and M. Stansbury. 2003. Virtual inequality: Beyond the digital divide. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
  5. ↑ "The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency". www.cia.gov. Archived from the original on June 12, 2007. Retrieved 2017-10-20.
  6. 1 2 "Up to 90% of Vietnamese to have Internet access: IT official - Tuoi Tre News". Tuoi Tre News (in Vietnamese). 23 February 2017. Retrieved 2017-10-17.
  7. ↑ "• Statista - The Statistics Portal for Market Data, Market Research and Market Studies". www.Statista.com. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  8. ↑ "Daily internet usage in Vietnam by age group 2016 | Statistic". Statista. Retrieved 2017-11-29.
  9. ↑ "Global State of the Internet Connectivity Reports | Akamai". Retrieved 2017-10-21.
  10. ↑ Telecom
  11. ↑ Corporation
  12. ↑ "Viettel". ViettelTelecom.vn. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  13. 1 2 "Vietnam". freedomhouse.org. Retrieved 2017-10-21.
  14. 1 2 Ho, Victoria. "Vietnam 'blocks' Facebook over the weekend due to protests over dead fish". Mashable. Retrieved 2017-10-21.
  15. ↑ "Projects : Vietnam - ICT Development | The World Bank". projects.worldbank.org. Retrieved 2017-10-12.
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