Measuring Spatial Differences of Informatization in China

As the wide application of new Information and Communication Technologies （ICTs） shows, the world is moving fast to- wards an information age. Since China was first connected to the Internet in 1994, the development of ICTs in China and around the world has been astonishingly fast, and yet there is a clear ＇digital divide＇ among different regions in China. Although Chinese geogra- phers have paid attention to regional differences in informatization, they usually employ a limited number of indicators, mainly focusing on the Intemet. In fact, infi^rmatization is a much broader concept, covering not only the lntemet, but also mobile phones as well as user ability. In the light of these considerations, this study provides a comprehensive examination of the development of informatization and its spatial differences in China. First, based on a literature review, the paper identifies 29 preliminary indicators for measuring informa- tization, and employs prin,-ipal components analysis and the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process to streamline them into 12 indicators to form an ICTs Developmen： Index （ID1）. Second, by using the data from provincial statistical yearbooks and the China Internet Network Information Center, the paper calculates the 1191 of each mega-region and each province in 2000-2010, and measures the changing spa- tial differences in the development of informatization in China. Lastly, the paper quantifies the relationship between informatization and economic growth. The empirical results show that the IDI of the western and central China has been increasing faster than that of the coastal region, indicating that the digital divide in China has been narrowing.

Telecentres in Mountain Regions-A Peruvian Case Study of the Impact of Information and Communication Technologies on Remoteness and Exclusion

Communities in developing country mountain areas,in part due to their remoteness,find themselves excluded from social,political and economic systems; and excluded from access to resources. This paper aims to study the impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on remoteness and exclusion. It utilises two models - the resource movement framework,and the "information chain" - to analyse a telecentre in one district of mountainous Huancavelica,Peru's poorest region,set in the high Andes. It finds ICTs enabling new and positive resource flows for the two key user groups:teenaged school students and young farmers. These help to maintain social networks. They also support information searches that have improved agricultural practice where other information chain resources have been available. But non-use and ineffective use of the telecentre are found where information chain resources are lacking. ICTs have some impacts on intangible elements of remoteness. In this particular example,they also offer access to some previously-excluded resources. But they have not really addressed the systematic exclusions faced by mountain communities. And they so far appear to be a technology of inequality; favouring those residents who begin with better resource endowments.The paper concludes by offering some recommendations for mountain ICT project practice.