This is not the digital divide you’re looking for.

Via the Info Policy blog, I found the news story and EIU/IBM e-readiness report that's just come out, with the great news that the digital divide is narrowing and/or gone:

“This is particularly evident in basic connectivity: Emerging markets are providing the vast majority of the world’s new phone and Internet connections

“This is the first time we see a level playing field between developed and developing nations, in terms of connectivity. It’s up to governments to take advantage with education and other initiatives” - Peter Korsten, European director at IBM’s Institute for Business Value.

But there are also constant factors, many of them non-technical, such as a country’s innovation levels and its legal and business environment. For example, Hong Kong’s and Singapore’s voracious technology adoption has earned them both high e-readiness marks. The two markets, however, lack the intellectual property creation of North America and Western Europe, and this acts as a drag on their broader digital progress.

Well, I'm certainly happy that we can stop worrying about this silly digital divide and move on to intellectual property concerns.

Wait....

Why are there only 72 countries listed? Why is the entirity of Sub-Saharan Africa left off of this report? And only 8 Latin American countries? Oh, I'm sorry -- these countries all fall in the lowest categories, and might skew your data. The International Telecomm Union (which is in the business of selling phones, not good news, so definitely wants to portray that there are still new markets on the horizon, perhaps) has a substantial "low" category which has been effectively excluded from the EIU/IBM study.

The digital divide's still there. We're just trying to ignore it now.