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The SAGE Encyclopedia

of World Poverty
Technology Diffusion

Contributors: Mehmet Odekon


Book Title: The SAGE Encyclopedia of World Poverty
Chapter Title: "Technology Diffusion"
Pub. Date: 2015
Access Date: October 30, 2015
Publishing Company: SAGE Publications, Inc
City: Thousand Oaks
Print ISBN: 9781483345703
Online ISBN: 9781483345727
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781483345727.n789
Print pages: 1522-1524
2015 SAGE Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

This PDF has been generated from SAGE knowledge. Please note that the pagination
of the online version will vary from the pagination of the print book.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781483345727.n789

Technology Diffusion
Technology diffusion is a process in which a new technology gains acceptance,
ownership, and use by the members of a social group. Research on the diffusion of
innovations in general suggests that there is a known curve that can describe how an
innovation will move through a population.
Improvements in technology offer individuals the opportunity to optimize their lifestyles,
generally making life easier. However, these improvements are not equally available,
and the time frame in which they become available can affect the ability of individuals
to build wealth. Because technologies are usually more expensive when new, often the
affluent are able to access the benefits of technology sooner than the poor. Research
has found that early adopters of technology are already of higher socioeconomic status
and are also more likely to be upwardly socially mobile. The differential diffusion of
technology then creates a technology divide. This, in itself, is a concern. The poor
are thus further impoverished as they cannot access the efficiencies afforded by
technology, which results in a widening gap in agency between the wealthy and the
poor. This can harm social mobility. This gap between the affluent and the poor has
been problematic throughout history but has been discussed with [p. 1522 ] frequency
in the Internet age with respect to digital divides. Technology divides are created
when different groups have differential access to modern technologies. Typically, a
technology divide is seen to exacerbate the existing gaps between groups. One gap of
interest is a resources gap, as found between the affluent and the poor.

Lifestyle Technologies
Access to many different types of technology has become important in achieving a
safe and efficient lifestyle. In the developing world, for example, modern construction
methods require equipment such as electrical tools and goods, such as insulation
for energy efficiency. When poor people live outside cities, as is common in much of
the developing world, housing quality can be lower because of factors like a lack of

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The SAGE Encyclopedia of World Poverty:


Technology Diffusion

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2015 SAGE Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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passable roads to haul construction materials or lack of electricity to power tools. These
structural factors cause a delay in the diffusion of the technology to the poor. When
homes are constructed, home energy costs can be higher and repairs may be needed
more frequently due to substandard construction.
Globally, technologies that permit innovations for providing electricity or clean running
water, for example, have yet to diffuse into the most impoverished areas. Without
electricity, labor-saving technologies such as home appliances are not usable, meaning
that there is an additional time burden to accomplish some tasks. Lack of electricity can
also lead to a lack of information, for example, when TVs and computers are not usable.
It can also impact education when children cannot study their school lessons once it
becomes dark.
Lack of clean water is also a serious problem. It makes it challenging to maintain
adequate sanitation, which can lead to disease. When people cannot access clean
water, it can be challenging to maintain the cleanliness standards needed for higherpaying work, such as those jobs that require clean uniforms. Without plumbing,
accessing water needed for cooking, sanitation, and drinking can require carrying it over
a distance, which is both difficult and time-consuming.
Diffusion is a social phenomenon, and lack of community-wide access to technologies
can also affect those living in poverty. For example, poor countries as a whole pollute
the environment more, because pollution-reducing technologies are expensive to install
and maintain and thus diffuse more slowly into impoverished areas. Citizens of these
countries thus have more opportunities for exposure to environmental elements, such
as lead, that are known to impair cognitive ability in the long term. Living with pollution
has also been linked to other health problems such as cancer. Poor citizens also often
have differential access to modern medical technology such as scanning equipment,
meaning that diseases, when contracted, are more likely to be devastating.
Legal constructs can also make it challenging for the impoverished to access the
benefits of technology. For example, people in developed countries hold 97 percent
of patents on agricultural technologies. Slower diffusion of hybrid seed and modern
agricultural equipment has a dual effect on the poor. First, failing to use modern
agricultural technologies can result in lower yields, higher prices, and less food available
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The SAGE Encyclopedia of World Poverty:


Technology Diffusion

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2015 SAGE Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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for the population that grow it. Second, lower yields mean less possibility for raising
capital through sales of food exports. This capital is needed for development projects.

Digital Technologies
The slower diffusion of digital computing and communication technologies to those
of lower socioeconomic status has been blamed for the creation of digital divides.
Digital divides exist when either the ability to find information or the ability to interact in
a digital environment is available to groups differentially. Over time, both government
agencies and academic researchers have determined that poverty is a substantial
factor in creating a digital divide. Because the ability to access information leads to
development of skills in accessing and interpreting information, digital divides tend to
worsen, creating larger gaps between technology haves and have-nots over time.
One cause of digital divides is the cost of the equipment needed to access digital
information, which slows diffusion among the impoverished. The prices of technologies
like computers and tablets do not scale with the cost of living, as expenses such as food
and clothing do. This means that in countries with low personal incomes, computers and
other digital devices are out of the price range [p. 1523 ] of many citizens. Although
programs have been developed to grant technology to impoverished areas, these
efforts sometimes fail because the recipients do not have the experience or training to
operate or maintain the devices. Recently, in more developed countries, lower-income
citizens have begun accessing digital information via less expensive devices such as
cellular phones.
Cell phone or other small devices that are Internet capable have experienced rapid
diffusion overall, and access through such devices is a partial solution but still has two
weaknesses. First, the data transfer rate over many cellular networks is slower than
through broadband access, meaning that information contained in multimedia forms
such as video may be less accessible to cell phone users. Second, often websites in
particular are not optimally designed for use on devices. This weakness is often worse
with public service websites, such as those operated by cities and school districts,
making digital information more difficult to access and to use effectively. As businesses,
governments, and news outlets attempt to save money by not printing and mailing
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The SAGE Encyclopedia of World Poverty:


Technology Diffusion

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2015 SAGE Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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materials, those who rely on such devices or do not have access at all can miss the
information completely, putting them at a disadvantage when compared with citizens
with better technology access.
The combination of slower diffusion of technology and inappropriately designed
technology causes inequalities that make life more difficult for the impoverished
and, in some cases, make it more difficult for them to improve their life situation. For
example, inferior technology access can cause the impoverished to pay higher prices
for goods and services. Lack of access to comparison-shopping information due to
digital divides can cause the less informed to pay higher prices than they might have to
for comparative goods. Poverty also means that there is a lack of resources to update
things like appliances and cars, which can mean higher operating costs over time.
Ultimately, the higher costs of living caused by a slower rate of technology diffusion
mean that it becomes increasingly challenging for the poor to achieve social mobility.
Amanda Sturgill
Elon University
See Also: Class Analysis of Poverty; Education and Technology; Exclusion; Financing
New Technology; Information and Communication Technology; Knowledge Poverty;
Mobile Phones; Social Disqualification; Social Inequality; Technology Divide.

Further Readings
Eller, Ronald. Uneven Ground: Appalachia Since 1945. Lexington: University of
Kentucky Press, 2008.
Jensen, Eric. Teaching With Poverty in Mind: What Being Poor Does to Kids Brains and
What Teachers Can Do About It. Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2009.
Neuwirth, Robert. Shadow Cities: A Billion Squatters in a New Urban World. Abingdon,
UK: Routledge, 2005.

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The SAGE Encyclopedia of World Poverty:


Technology Diffusion

SK Reviewers
2015 SAGE Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

SAGE knowledge

Nielsen, Jakob. Digital Divide: The 3 Stages (November 20, 2006). http://
www.nngroup.com/articles/digital-divide-the-three-stages/ (Accessed May 2014).
Pew Research Internet Project. Digital Divide. http://www.pewinternet.org/topics/digitaldivide/ (Accessed May 2014).
Rahman, Hakikur, ed. Empowering Marginal Communities With Information Networking.
Hershey, PA: Idea Group Publishers, 2006.
Rogers, Everett M. Diffusion of Innovations. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010.
Schacker, Michael. Global Awakening: New Science and the 21st Century
Enlightenment. Rochester, VT: Park Street Press, 2013.
Schn, Donald A., Bish Sanyal, and William J. Mitchell. High Technology and LowIncome Communities: Prospects for the Positive Use of Advanced Information
Technology. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1999.
http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781483345727.n789

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