Digital Divide of Intangible Cultural Heritage and Innovative Inheritance Countermeasures

The rapid growth of the digital economy has sparked interest in digital innovation for intangible cultural heritage (ICH) in recent years. Progress has been made in digital storage, creation, and dissemination of ICH. However, senior ICH inheritors face a significant challenge known as the "digital divide", which includes the "digital access divide", "digital capability divide", and "digital output divide". Subjective factors contributing to this issue include inheritors' willingness, access conditions, physical capabilities, and education levels, while objective factors consist of the complexity of digital equipment, lack of social support, digital security concerns, and difficulties in ICH inheritance. To address these divides, collaborative governance involving multiple societal actors is crucial. This paper recommends that the government implement policies supporting ICH digitization, social groups enhance digital education for senior ICH inheritors, enterprises establish a digital platform for ICH, and ICH inheritors foster the interest of young people in learning about ICH. Implementing these measures can eliminate the ICH digital divide, expand the ICH bearer community, enhance digital literacy, and promote the protection and inheritance of ICH.