The evolution trend of electronic readiness models and digital gap from a methodological perspective

By rapid formation and growth of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), new concepts such as information society, digital economy, electronic readiness, and digital gap have been added to the word banks and have attracted the attention of researchers, experts, and decision-makers. The concept of “digital gap” has been used for around one decade to address social, economic, and demographical differences in access and use of ICT. Thus, in recent years, great efforts have been made for developing models of electronic readiness and digital gap each of which following their own specific purposes. Corresponding measures for evaluating are still rather inaccurate. In this study, various models are investigated with respect to their methodologies and the weaknesses and strengths of each are identifies. The compound indices which combine a number of indices and constitute a single index are also discussed