Digital inequalities and ICT devices: the ambiguous role of smartphones

This study builds on micro-data from the community European survey on “the ICT usage in household and by individuals” to analyze the digital divide in Italy based on three different dimensions: the technical means (kind of broadband connection and type of device), the use of internet (kind of activities) and the digital skills. We analyze changes occurred over the 2010-2016 period in the use of internet of Italians, using multivariate statistical analysis, we investigate whether there are significant differences among individuals, and particularly among different generations and socio-economic groups, in the use of specific devices such as smartphone or laptop to access internet. Our particular aim is to disentangle the relation between the use of the smartphone and the development of digital skills. Our findings highlight that the solely use of the smartphone is more common among segments of the population characterized by a first level digital divide. Moreover, the results document a negative relation between the exclusive use of the smartphone to access internet and individual digital skills.