Call to bridge ‘digital divide'
By Rosli Abidin Yahya

While the advent of the Internet, and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) links people around the world, it has ironically broadened the gap between the "haves" and the "have-nots".

Concern for underprivileged people who do not have access to computers was voiced out by observers who said providing computer literacy skills to such people could guarantee better work opportunities in the digital age.

"There are privileged people who can afford to upgrade their computers to the latest high-end ones every now and then but whatever happens to their old computers nobody knows.

"Should these old computers be collected and repaired then they could be passed on to the underprivileged for a small fee," they suggested.

"There is no need for everybody to get their hands onto the latest high-end computers, the lower-ends should be good enough for people to familiarise themselves with the digital age."

They felt an organisation should be formed to collect these old computers, repair them and make them available to the unfortunate few for a small fee.

This way, they said, the underprivileged can be provided with opportunities to bridge the digital divide and be up-to-date with the latest ICT gadgets.

"Computer skills would help rural children discover their talents and hopefully, lead them to a better life,'' they said.

They added Brunei Darussalam is fortunate that almost every school, whether urban or rural, have access to computers. However, they felt people other than students should also have the opportunity to learn and be trained in handling computers.

"If a household has one computer each, then the one who is computer literate can teach his/her other family members how to make full use of computers.

"This is why a computer, whether high-end or low-end must be made within reach of all household.

"This way we can one day have a 100 per cent computer literacy population," they observed.

Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin