Speakers at a webinar yesterday underscored the need for improving economic conditions and subsidising internet costs for the disadvantaged groups to reduce digital divide.

The webinar, titled "Digital Inclusion Webinar Series: Digital Divide in Rural Bangladesh" was organised by BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD).

A research paper by Professor of Economics at Dhaka University Dr Muhammad Shahadat Hossain Siddiquee and BIGD research associate Md Saiful Islam was presented.

It was based on a survey carried out on 6,500 sample rural households between September and November 2019. The most "digitally literate" individual in a household answered digital literacy questions for the survey.

The research said education plays a vital role on people's internet usage. "The higher the level of education, more likely of access to internet," reads the research.

The researchers recommended scaling up public access points of internet and ICT programs to bridge the digital divide.

BIGD Executive Director Dr Imran Matin suggested to adopt micro-digitisation strategy to bridge the gap.

Pointing out that women have low access to internet, Mehnaz Rabbani, lead of Research for Policy and Governance (RPG) at BIGD said women are lagging behind due to poor access to internet.

"If the number of female internet users cannot be increased, years of struggle of the government to reduce gender inequality will become futile," she added.

Policy advisor Anir Chowdhury said the use of internet varies from person to person. "A person who needs old age allowance has different kind of demand from internet than a youth has," he said, underscoring the need for creating specific skills for special needs among people.