Cyber and cellular cultures in the Gambia: sociospatial perspectives on globalisation, development and the digital divide

The emergence of new information and communication technologies has generated much debate both in and out of academia in relation to theories ranging from economic advancement to imperialism. In the context of the Majority World (low-income countries), three dominant discourses associated with Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) persist. The first is globalisation, as these nations open their regulatory gateways in order to engage with the global market in search of socio-economic advancement. Second, is the discourse of development, where it is predicted that nations which have joined the global market will use ICTs to harness global knowledge that shall enable them to be competitive and therefore attain development. Third, is the discourse of the digital divide which spans across the globe in the context of the North–South divide, and among nations and communities due to what has been described as the divide between information 'haves' and 'have nots' enabled by ICTs. [Continues.]