Digital Gap in Modern Information Society

The development of the information society has led to the emergence of the phenomenon of the digital divide (the digital inequality). The article discusses the main methodological approaches to the definition of this concept, and also describes the author's approach to its identification and methods of detection. The authors identify the following factors that influence the digital divide: economic, social, technical, infrastructural, language factor, as well as the factor of knowledge and skills in the field of ICT. The significance of this phenomenon is explained by the fact that its influence on people's lives is enormous. Modern ICT are multifunctional and multitasking, penetrating into all spheres of human life. According to the authors, at this stage of the development of the information society and the electronic (digital) economy, it is necessary to develop a set of measures aimed at reducing the digital divide in order to prevent its deepening.