The digital divide and its impact on the development of Mediterranean countries

Abstract

The dramatic increase in communications, trade interaction and interdependence has made it necessary to implement new metrics to compare the development rate of nations and their economies. There is much research that analyses the impact of information and communication technology on human development. These studies have analyzed and compared human development indicators (HDI) and information and communication technology (ICT) development index (IDI) from various geographical areas or on a randomized basis. There is much research that analyses the impact of IDI on HDI. This study wants to analyze the economic and digital divide between the countries that make up a region whose economic and cultural relation have a long historical tradition. For this purpose, we chose the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, since, in addition to these traditional relations, there are recent Euro-Mediterranean association agreements between the European Union and the countries of North Africa and the Middle East, whose objective, among others, is scientific, technical and technological collaboration. The potential relationship between the HDI and the HDI is to be known and whether it can improve the way different countries assess their level of development. The descriptive analysis of the HDI and IDI behavior shows us that human and technological development was progressing with average growth rates of 23% and 2.5%, respectively. Differences between countries also narrowed further in HDI, with a decrease of 7.4%, compared with a 5.2% decrease in IDI. When the conversion was done to the same scale, there was an average difference of 0.2 points between the two index values. Consequently, the Mediterranean countries studied were closer to achieving a rapprochement in human development than in technological development. This study can be used as a tool by policymakers, especially in developing countries, to reinforce their intentions to support the use and implementation of ICT.