The Digital Divide in the EU: the Greek Case (1990-2004)

The digital divide, the unequal diffusion and use of the Internet and other Information and Communication Technologies, has generated an urgent call for remedial policies in the EU both at a supranational and at a member-state level. But are all EU member states participating in the Information Society to the same extent? Does the North-South European divide exist in digital policy-making? Does policy matter or do other factors play a more crucial role? What is the ‘x-factor’ that makes one country accelerate in the Information Society and another not? How far do cross-national differences in Internet usage reflect political choices? This dissertation is an in-depth examination of the Greek case. The dissertation first reviews the historical and philosophical background of the digital divide. It briefly gives a comparative overview of the digital performance of the member states and then discusses policy-making at the EU level. But the main focus is the Greek response to the digital challenge from early 90s to circa 2004. Taking into account the socio-historical context within which Greek policies have been framed the analysis then proceeds along the three themes of e-economy, e-education and e-government. This dissertation gives a critical assessment of the existing literature in this field in order to examine Greek policy-making regarding the Information Society and the digital divide