Digital Divide Across the European Union

Abstract

Dissertação apresentada como requisito parcial para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Estatística e Gestão de InformaçãoOur research analyzes the digital divide within the European Union 27 (EU-27). To achieve this objective we use multivariate statistical methods, more specifically factor and cluster analysis, to address the disparities in the digital development levels between EU countries. Our results lead to an identification of two latent dimensions and five groups of countries when it comes to the digital development. We conclude that a digital gap does, in fact, exist within the EU. Moreover our results suggest that there is a relation with the entrance year to the Union with the digital development stage, considering that newer member presents lower digital developments