Analyzing digital divide within and between member and candidate countries of European Union

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to analyze whether a digital divide exists among European Union (EU) members, new members, and candidate countries. Beyond this, the second goal is to find out if a digital divide has a significant association with the process of becoming an EU member. First, member, new member, and candidate countries are classified into three groups, and MANOVA (Multivariate Analysis of Variance) is applied to determine differences among these groups in terms of Information Society levels. Then. Information Society variables are analyzed using Discriminant Analysis. According to the results of the research, there is a significant level of digital divide in the EU and a certain information society level currently is not associated with EU membership. The EU must address the digital divide among member countries if they are to become a close-knit community, and to continue to be one of the most competitive economic powers in the world. Finaly, the EU might consider using information society level as an objective criteria along with other objective and subjective criteria currently being used as EU membership criteria. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.