Modeling Factors Affecting the Physical Access to Computers and Internet Using Adaptive Fuzzy Neural Networks

Abstract

Today, the global community is facing with a new challenge called digital divide which leads to inequality in access to and use of information and communication technology products and services among individuals and communities. The importance of Digital Dived is because of its political, economic, social and cultural impacts on the daily lives of individuals and a country's domestic and international situation. Thus, this applied article aimed to identify the effective factors in individuals' access to computers and Internet using the data obtained from 501 questionnaires distributed among citizens of Rafsanjan. Then, these factors were modeled using adaptive fuzzy neural networks. The results showed that digital literacy and skills, economic factor, and motivational access had the highest impacts on physical access to computers and the Internet rather than other factors. The comparison of the results with outcomes of structural equation modeling, indicated that both were compatible with each other