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{{See also|Global digital divide|Digital divide|Global Internet usage}}
Developing countries lag behind other nations in terms of ready access to the internet, though computer access has started to bridge that gap. Access to computers, or to broadband access, remains rare for half of the world's population. For example, as of 2010, on average of only one in 130 people in Africa had a computer<ref>[httphttps://www.voanews.com/englisha/news/africa/east/Buttybutty-Uu-Ss-Computerscomputers-for-Africaafrica-14april10-90805754/159841.html Computers for Africa Launches New Initiative to Help Schools (4/13/2010)]</ref> while in North America and Europe one in every two people had access to the Internet.<ref>[https://www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/afrec/vol17no3/173tech.htm Africa takes on the digital divide]</ref> 90% of students in Africa had never touched a computer.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110108153058/http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5iS38zZc6d-JIIBpAx705Zz-zt94Q?docId=N0401251293791904810A Computers recycled to help Africa (12/31/2010)]</ref> Industrialized countries have an average GNP ten times larger than those of developing countries. The per capita GNP of the United States compared to the per capita of India holds a ratio of fifty to zero. This may be due to differences in economic priorities and social needs. Salaries of clerical staff in developed countries are averaged ten times larger salaries than those in developing countries. Purposes and usage of technology varies drastically due to shifts of priority between industrialized and developing countries. Underutilization of existing computers continues to be a problem in developing countries. Simple designs such as computer memory still have not been implemented or maximized in comparison to industrialized countries today.
Local networks can provide significant access to software and information even without utilizing an internet connection, for example through use of the [[Wikipedia]] CD selection or the [[eGranary Digital Library]].
