Spatial Analysis and Prioritization of Cities of West Azerbaijan for Information and Communication Technology Development and Digital Divide Reduction

Overcoming spatial and temporal limitation, information and communication technology is today considered as the axis and key to sustained development and as the most important criterion for development which has reshaped the world and life patterns and it is, in fact, considered both the cause and the effect of development. Identifying and proper using of new opportunities for sustained development and advancement of economic, social, and political goals and shaping the future provided by this paradigm which is dominating development as the strongest instrument of empowerment and equalization requires knowledge about this revolutionary trend for a slight negligence will let opportunities in others’ hands. In this regard, removing digital Divide between areas and assuring of the general and equal access of geographical units to ICT services for their uniform and equal development in the long run and establishment of spatial and geographical equality should be taken into consideration as one of the most important planning priorities for ICT development. To this end, using TOPSIS model and statistical tests, development level of the cities of West Azerbaijan in terms of information and communication technology indices in 1387 are evaluated, ranked and graded and the digital Divide between them is estimated.
Results indicate that cities of West Azerbaijan are far from being developed in terms of ICT indices and there are inequalities, or in other words, “digital Divides” among these cities with the city of Orumyieh standing on the top of ICT development ranking being two and half times more developed than the city of Chaldoran which is on the bottom of ranking. In addition, ICT development of the cities of West Azerbaijan is directly related to their populations, especially their urban populations. In order to bridge or at least reduce the digital Divide and creating a balance in long-term development, cities of West Azerbaijan are prioritized in terms of ICT development and suggestions have been offered to improve the present conditions of information and communication technology throughout the province.