The new social policy and the digital age: a case study of a wired high rise public housing estate

In an age of information overload, a widening gap is emerging between those who have almost instantaneous access to more electronic information than can ever possibly be absorbed and those who have no access at all. This gap is known as the 'digital divide'. Lack of access to electronic information is increasingly recognised as a new and serious dimension to eXisting patterns of social disadvantage, one which builds on patterns of social deprivation associated with class, culture, and disability (L1oyd, Given & Hellwig 2000; Brown, Barram & Irving 1995; Meredyth & Thomas 2000; Hoffman & Novak 1999). In Europe and North America in particular, but also in Australia, policy makers are increasingly interested in this as a key problem in need of attention.