Dіgital Inequality in Modern Society: Ukrainian Dimension of Global Trends

Abstract

Nowadays, the pervasive informatization becomes a precondition for further human development. Although, its macrosocial reformative effect is connected not only with obtaining new advantages and abilities in different spheres of people’s life, but also with a bunch of modernization risks and threats for the sustainable human society development. The debatable process of the global informatization actualizes the task of comprehension of one of the world’s major and key problems – the phenomenon of the digital inequality. The article covers the observation of the specific aspects of the digital inequality deployment in the modern society as well as determination of the actual complex estimate of the problem significance for Ukraine. Digital inequality is investigated as a dynamic threat which simultaneously propagates on the global, regional and local levels. The main factors of shift of balance are defined together with its current measures. In as much as the digital inequality phenomenon is complex and it has many aspects this study is based on a complex approach which takes into account the evolution of the digital inequality and identification of two stages of its deployment. For the purpose of determining the situation with digital inequality in Ukraine statistical investigations and monitoring methods were applied. This allowed determining the current status of the digital inequality and the dynamics of the key indexes in Ukraine regarding the level of development of the informational society in the world’s ranks data. The research findings made possible to conclude that Ukraine stays in the role of relatively hind ward country with a «catch-up» informatization inside of which both stages of digital inequality deployment take place simultaneously. The main steps of state policy implementation intended for minimization of destructive occurrences of digital inequality have been suggested.