'Digital Provide' or Product Consumption Diffusion Cycle? The Diffusion Impact and Potential of Digital Technology in the Global South

Abstract

The global digital divide is sometime presented as the primary obstacle to developmental convergence between world regions. On the other hand mobile phone and internet technology are at times seen as transformative innovations that are dissolving this development divide. Through secondary data (such as on usage from Internet World Stats) and case exemplars, of mobile money and the gig economy, this paper argues that this is not the case; primarily because new information and communication technologies are used mostly for communication and consumption, rather than production, and if they are value capture is often low. Consequently the ‘digital divide’, and its partial dissolution, are perhaps better characterized as phases of an ‘ICT product consumption diffusion cycle’, facilitated by technological embedding and convergence. The paper provides background and substantiates this argument and then explores the potential for a deep digital transformation (DDT) in the Global South.