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Global tendencies and local implications: cyber exclusion of and within Western Balkan countries

Abstract: 
Presents evidence of information inequality and causes and consequences of the digital divide in the following Western Balkan countries: Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia, and Montenegro. Based on quantitative analysis of Internet penetration levels on national and intra-societal levels cross-referenced with economic and social indicators in which successive barriers of entry and use are analyzed separately. Argues that Western Balkan countries cannot be considered as a homogenous group of countries but a complex region in which cyber exclusion and access must be treated quantitatively and qualitatively in order to achieve an inclusive society. Reviews information gap between the information have’s and the information have-not’s, legacy of the past knwoledge gap theory, cyber exclusion as social exclusion, Western Balkan cyber exclusion indicators (external exclusion and in-country exclusion), income as an anchor determinant, infrastructure, literacy, and access and usage.
Author: 
Zoran Kostov
Institution: 
Zoran Kostov
Year: 
2006
Region(s): 
Industry Focus: 
Information & Telecommunication
Internet & Cyberspace
Country: 
Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro
Datatype(s): 
Bibliographies & Reports
Indicators