Guest Editorial: Digital Divide: Closing the Gap

The promise of ubiquitous connectivity has been a Utopian goal for several decades. And yet, to this day, the digital divide not only persists, but in many cases continues to widen. According to the United Nation's report [1], less than half of the population in underdeveloped areas has access to fourth generation mobile networks. Furthermore, the inequality between urban and rural areas exists even in developed countries [2], [3]. As a result, bridging the digital divide has been identified as a goal for sustainable development by the United Nations [4]. The problem of digital information and communication technologies (ICT) access divide has especially been amplified in the last two years, when COVID-19 forced the majority of the world's workforce to work from home.