digital divide

How are APC members improving their communities’ lives? Delhi-based not-for-profit organisation Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) works on bridging the digital divide in rural areas in India.

I’ve never really liked the term ‘the digital divide’. Alliteration’s easy. It gains attention to an issue, which is good, but it also oversimplifies.

With more than 349,000 deaths and more than 2.5 million active cases, people in India are struggling in the midst of an unrelenting surge of COVID-19 infections. How can we leverage technology to ensure access to reliable information in the midst of fake news and misinformation?

APC's participation will focus on highlighting strategies to counter gender-based violence online, discussing the intersections between technology, the environment and the exercise of human rights, debating the impact of COVID-19 on human rights, and promoting meaningful internet access.

In September 2020, our research on the State of Internet Freedom in Africa established that the ultimate effect of the measures instituted in fighting COVID-19 was that they had deepened the democracy deficit in several African countries.

We call on governments, industry, multilateral institutions, civil society and international financial institutions to close the digital divide by putting people at the centre of our approach to achieving meaningful connectivity for everyone.

This report presents the findings of interviews and surveys of APC members and partners who were recipients of funding through its core subgranting programme, supported by Sida, and of subgrants offered through other APC projects, as well as staff working on subgranting in the organisation.

With the onset of the economic crisis and the pandemic, education in Lebanon changed dramatically with the distinctive rise of e-learning, whereby teaching is taking place remotely on digital platforms. This abrupt shift to the digital realm has significant academic and social implications.