Summary: The digital divide is the gap that exists between those who have access to and effectively utilize Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and those who don't. The term was first used in July 1999, in "Falling Through the Net: Defining the Digital Divide", a report by the U.S. National Telecommunication and Information Administration describing the information technology and telecommunications gap in the United States. This division between the “haves” and “have-not's” is both international (the gap between affluent elite countries and poor, developing countries) and domestic (the gap between urban, highly connected areas and rural disconnected areas).

Summary: Low Threshold-- an application of technology that is reliable, accessible, easy to learn, non-intimidating and (incrementally) inexpensive.