Digital divide and the role of interactive digital television

Since its beginning, the interactive Digital Television (iDTV) in Brazil has been anticipated by specialists as a viable and important tool to reduce the digital divide. Nevertheless, few studies have examined to what extent it may be really effective among low-income families so far. This paper analyzes the role of iDTV as an instrument to decrease the digital divide. This assessment was carried out through a survey with a sample of 67 families, selected among a group of 100 families who participated of a pilot experiment, in the city of Joao Pessoa, located in the Northeastern region of Brazil. The project included four iTVD applications that offered government services and were specially designed, using Ginga middleware, to promote to digital and social inclusion. The survey was composed by a questionnaire containing 102 questions, most of them of closed-ended type. In order to understand iDTV impact in the digital divide decrease, five analytical criteria with respect to user's viewpoint were considered: motivation; correct understanding; friendly use de interfaces; usefulness of the information; and applicability of the knowledge.