By Engr. Dr. Muhammad Nawaz Iqbal
The digital divide needs to be bridged by entrepreneurial innovation that involves redesigning the technology, its distribution, and adaptation to suit the disparate population groups.
The entrepreneurs are quite significant since they develop localized solutions that have the potential to overcome the infrastructural shortcomings, which may include unreliable power supply, poor internet connectivity, and unavailability of affordable gadgets. Entrepreneurs can detect niche issues at the grassroots level, unlike large corporations that tend to focus on mainstream markets and develop broadly applicable business models to meet those groups. Digital divide is not just a question of being able to access technology, but also of being able to make good use of the technology.
Among those trying to fill this void are entrepreneurial innovators, who are developing training platforms that will include digital literacy combined with community-based hands-on skills. Locally tailored digital programs in the mother tongue or mobile-based formative learning among rural workers and conduct educational courses for start-ups have made it available to people who would otherwise not be able to join the digital economy.
The most revolutionary has been the creation of mobile-based applications that are cheap and do not need high-speed internet to operate. Business people have developed the so-called light-weight applications, which operate either in offline mode or SMS based systems, which means that even people in remote regions using basic mobile phones can enjoy their benefits. One can not only engage in digital platforms but also make sure that people who cannot afford the newest smartphones or broadband connections are also included in those solutions. Entrepreneurial innovation goes further to funding schemes that enable oppressed communities to acquire access to electronic tools.
Programs such as micro-financing, ownership pay-as-you-go devices and CSDH hubs are breaking the walls of cost. Entrepreneurs implementing financial and digital inclusion initiatives are not only filling in the gaps but also delivering economic mobility through a technological lens.
Online entrepreneurship has proved to be an effective driver of bridging gaps, especially in the provision of remote working opportunities. Sites that link the talent pools in the country to the talent pools in other countries are transforming the world of employment. To illustrate, the fact that the talent does not have to move to the urban Centre in order to enjoy the global digital economy is being proven by the entrepreneurs who are setting up micro-outsourcing centers in rural areas.
One of the ways to make generic digital tools ineffective is the local innovation that helps to resolve cultural and contextual problems. Business people are creating locally oriented solutions, like medical applications that exist in that region, or farming applications that were created based on the local ways of agriculture. These innovations are deeper and more acceptable as they have been put into place with regard to cultural realities. One of the fundamental pillars to bridge the digital divide focuses on education, and entrepreneurs are redefining the conventional model of education delivery through the integration of local contexts and digital technologies. The affordability of e-learning systems and the integration of e-learning with other education systems is allowing students in far-flung locations to access quality content. If start-ups revolving around teacher empowerment by digital methods are successful then education is not only viable but also effective in enhancing learning outcomes. The level of renewable energy developments has brought in a new aspect to the gap bridging.
Businesspeople are connecting the off-grid communities to the solar-powered systems with internet-enabled devices and establishing sustainable digital access points in them. This is because these energy-technological solutions address both the issue of power inadequacy and digital bias, and with such solutions, the communities can cross the infrastructure barrier. Females and the underprivileged are more vulnerable to the digital divide and business innovation is essential in creating a non-discriminatory system. Social networks designed by women and small-scale artisans in the rural areas and poor young people are empowering them to enter the market, acquire new practices and networks.
Business people are also redefining the idea of localizing the digital platform to create a sense of trust and usability. These programs indicate that the difference between the two is a technical hurdle that transcends the human-centered design. The value of collaborations among business people, the state, and non-governmental organizations has been found crucial in expanding digital innovations. Most of the entrepreneurs are not operating in isolation but collaborate to find solutions with local governments so that they can be integrated into the services provided by the governments. Specifically, health entrepreneurship operating at the ministry of health scale can expand rural telemedicine programs that span healthcare access gaps and address the digital divide.
The next emerging trend is the emergence of local entrepreneurial platforms where the local entrepreneurs serve as digital intermediaries. These entrepreneurs create neighborhood centers where individuals can obtain internet-based services such as e-commerce, e-governance, and banking. This form of collective ownership of digital resources allows seeking a reduction in inequalities in access, which, in turn, generates jobs for community entrepreneurs. Thoughtful entrepreneurs are tapping into artificial intelligence and machine learning to customize digital inclusion. Artificial intelligence (AI) could be used to customize education to each person and machine learning can also offer farmers predictive information about weather and crops through agriculture applications.
These new technologies are making sure the underserved communities are able to enjoy the new technologies, as opposed to being able to access them. One more area of application of block chain and decentralized technology is the entrepreneurial ecosystem, where the need is to deliver transparent, safe, and cheap solutions to a community that is frequently ignored in the financial system. Closing the digital divide via entrepreneurial innovation is concerned with the redesign of systems so that people at the fringe will get enhanced. It involves inexorable ingenuity, regional knowledge, and profitable business procedures that combine social influence and profitability. (Published in Oct. 1-15,2025)
