Chapter 8

Chapter 8

THE IMPACT of INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY on PRODUCTIVITY and QUALITY of LIFE

VIGNETTE

Western Cape Striving to Eliminate the Digital Divide

1. How important is access to ICT in children's education?

     ANSWER : Through the access in Information and Communication Technology in children's education, it will gain more knowledge in the students.

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

     ANSWER :The barriers that stands in the way of universal access to ICT for everyone who wants it is they cannot afford to buy their own personal computers and don't have access in the Internet.

CASE 3 : Technological Advances Create Digital Divide in Health Care

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

     ANSWER : As human beings we are all valuable social entities whereby, through the force of morality, through implicitly forged covenants among us as individuals and between us and our governments, and through the natural rights we maintain as individuals and those we collectively surrender to the common good, it has been determined by nature, natural laws, and natural rights that human beings have the right, not the privilege to healthcare access. ( http://www.peh-med.com/content/2/1/2 )

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

     ANSWER : No, the healthcare organizations must make a major investments in telemedicines to provide improved services not only for the wealthy persons but also for the poor. They must provide improved services that all of us can afford.

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

     ANSWER : The disadvantage of telemedicine is that most of the patients cannot afford of this kind of healthcare. Because of this, people might choose to die or to wait until they die than to pay an expensive telemedicine.