Digital technologies provide opportunities to improve the lives and well-being of people. Yet access to and the ability to effectively use online services are critical for equal opportunity and inclusion. Divides in Internet use are pronounced by age, education and income. Younger and more educated Internet users engage in a wider range of online activities. Those with the requisite skills are typically in a better position to use digital technologies to their advantage.

Policies should aim to boost equitable uptake of online services, technology diffusion, and data’s potential. To boost equitable uptake of online services, governments should lead by example, providing user-centric, inclusive online services. They should invest in skills while supporting those most at risk of being left behind. 

While progress has been made, important connectivity divides persist across and within countries, for example between urban and rural areas. 

The measurement of broadband quality and coverage across regions is essential to track the evolution of urban-rural broadband access divides and inform policymaking. The ongoing OECD Going Digital project's Phase IV on “Digital divides: Improving connectivity”, aims to tackle this issue by developing a harmonised approach to measure spatial connectivity divides leveraging third-party source data, and provide evidence-based policies to bridge such divides.  

Small firms are important contributors to innovation and productivity growth. But to do so they need access to recent technologies. Across countries, larger enterprises tend to be more likely to be adopters of new technologies, including cloud computing, Internet of Things technologies, big data analytics and artificial intelligence. 

Uneven adoption and diffusion of digital technologies help explain the digital “productivity paradox” insofar that the productivity slowdown may not be caused by the most globally advanced firms, but an uneven uptake and diffusion of these innovations throughout the economy. While adoption and diffusion of digital technologies remain below potential, they can be accelerated by public policies that create a level playing field among firms in access to key inputs, including data.