CHAPTER 8

VIGNETTE “Western Cape Striving To Eliminate The Digital Divide” 

Questions To Consider:

1.) How importance is access to ICT in children education?

        It is very important for the children education to have access to ICT because, its their way of getting involved in the digital economy. Also, having access to internet can somehow make the students less complicated in terms of there paper works at school. Also, they can learn or gain information and facts through internet, not just in books. But some schools cannot afford to have PC's connected via internet, that why their making a solution about this problem.

2.) What are the barriers that stand in the way of universal access to ICT for everyone who wants it?

        Mostly, many regions is poor and many schools were having difficulties in providing personal computers for their students and that they cannot afford information and communications technology ICT. That is why, some students were ignorant in talking about digital stuff & not just students but also certain people don't know how to use computers or they don't just have knowledge about it.

CASE STUDY 3 “Technological Advances Create Digital Divide in Health Care” 

Discussions Questions:

1.) Can you provide examples that either refute or confirm the idea that a gap exists between the kinds of health care services available to the wealthy and the poor in the United States?

        Patients who cannot pay for those new technologies fall through the gap of the healthcare systems very own “digital divide”. The success of programs such as health Buddy depends not only weather they avoid health crises & decrease medicine expenses but also on whether they lower patients costs. Also the irony of technological advances in medicine is that while they can prolong quality of life, they create new standards which could either push the healthcare system toward financial crisis increase the disparity but rich and poor.

2.) Should healthcare organizations make major investments in telemedicine to provide
improved services that only the wealthy can afford?

        I disagree making major investments in telemedicine because the fact that only rich or wealthy persons can afford it but also, poor people cannot avail these services. Yet, I know its a big help to those patients but the irony is that it can cause disparity between the poor and the rich. There's should be quality between the state of living of each individual.

3.)What are the drawbacks of telemedicine? What situations might not lend themselves to
telemedicine solutions?

        The situations that might not lend to telemedicine solutions is that, there goal is to avoid health crisis & reduce total expenses, but how will affect the medical expenses of the individual participants? Will the system increase/decrease annual patient costs. The success of programs depends not only whether they avoid health crises & decrease medicare expenses but also whether the lower patients costs.