The digital divide is wasting away: 20 percent of Italians have never used the internet. Public administration is still offline.

Digital divide, the digital divide, that "wall" that divides those who have access to the Internet from those who are deprived of the network that has changed the world. A serious inequality which brings to mind the energy gap that had isolated some areas of Southern Italy in the 50s and 60s of the last century.

DIGITAL DIVIDE

Today, access to the Internet in the broad sense (not just the World Wide Web (son of the brilliant intuitions of Sir Berners-Lee) is considered a fundamental human right, as confirmed in 2012 by a resolution unanimously approved by the UN Human Rights Council.

ALSO READ: The province is as smart as the big city, 5G breaks down technological and social distances

WHAT IS THE DIGITAL DIVIDE?

The United Nations itself recently launched an alarm: in the world 3,8 billion people are not online, that is, approximately half of the global population; the continent most affected, as is too often the case, is Africa, hit by an infrastructure gap that is very difficult to fill.

In much of the industrialized West, however, sensitivity towards the issue is not only normative, but there is a growing jurisprudential tendency to affirm the configuration of an effective – and compensable – digital divide damage, suffered by those who are not able to use the Web.

DIGITAL DIVIDE

The European Commission annually analyses the situation within the member countries through the Digital Economy and Society Index (Digital Economy and Society Index – DESI). The DESI Report provides valuable information for understanding the different speeds of development, in terms of digital inclusion, across Europe and naturally also offers a reliable snapshot of the Italian situation.  

DIGITAL DIVIDE IN ITALY

According to the latest Report, in Italy the Internet users represent the 69% of the population versus 81% of the EU average; not bad, as an absolute figure, but analyzing all the parameters (among others, connectivity, human capital and integration of digital technologies) the Bel Paese ranks twenty-fourth out of twenty-eight.

Italy is still stuck in the quicksand of Fantozzian paper bureaucracies, at the moment does not have a digital PA capable of convincing citizens: only 37% of Italians rely on online forms to complete their relevant procedures.

There is also a strong delay on the ultra-fast broadband (100 Mbps and above), but one statistic is shocking: 19% of Italians, almost double the EU average, have never used the internet. Never.

TO KNOW MORE: Internet of Things: How to Protect Your Privacy with a Super-Secure Connection

DIGITAL DIVIDE IN THE WORLD

Maybe because we are a country for old people? Probably yes, also because those who use it, the very young in particular, do so following trends commonly found.

In fact, from Aosta to Ragusa, those who surf the Internet love being on social media and downloading music, but they inform themselves or do very little research (we are sadly last among the countries in the EU system for consulting news). online).

It's not too surprising, as in Italy, in 2017, only 41% of people aged 6 and over read at least one book for non-professional reasons.

“Read to live,” Flaubert warned. With a digital future still to be built and little desire to learn more about the world, we are instead consigning ourselves to long-term care. We deserve better.  

HOW TO USE THE INTERNET THE RIGHT WAY:

• It's called the Internet of Things, a computer in every object in life. A way for everyone to be registered. And to pay more for our purchases.
• Technological diet: summer is the perfect time. Try it, you won't regret it.
• Let's go back to talking to someone, and not just someone through the Internet (Sherry Turkle)
• Buying and selling used products online: how to avoid unpleasant surprises and wasted money in 5 steps. Be careful when online.