Indian Institute of Mass Communication

Optimists see Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as having immense emancipatory potential to overcome social inequalities. Recent studies on the Digital Divide have focused on elements of access and usage motivations of ICTs. This study uses the capability approach as a theoretical paradigm for proposing a Digital Capability Index. A focus on capabilities questions the range of real choices that have been available to people; whether they have the genuine capability to achieve valued functioning. The multi-dimensionality of the Digital Capability is measured through an online survey of 226 undergraduate and postgraduate communication students in Bengal in the eastern part of India, followed by an exploratory factor analysis.

Optimists see Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as having immense emancipatory potential to overcome social inequalities. Recent studies on the Digital Divide have focused on elements of access and usage motivations of ICTs. This study uses the capability approach as a theoretical paradigm for proposing a Digital Capability Index. A focus on capabilities questions the range of real choices that have been available to people; whether they have the genuine capability to achieve valued functioning.