Local Realities of Digital Awareness in the Global South: The Case of Ghoramarajan Pam Village, Assam, India
The study primarily examines patterns of digital awareness in Ghoramarajan Pam, a peri-urban village in Assam, India, to understand how geographical proximity to metropolitan centres influences digital inclusion. The study involved 327 participants and assessed digital awareness across ten domains, including entertainment, education, digital payments, agriculture, healthcare, and cyber safety. Statistical analysis employed Wilson confidence intervals and one-sample proportion z-tests against a 50% benchmark, representing a minimum level of community familiarity.
The findings indicate that digital awareness is unevenly distributed across domains. Consumption-oriented domains, such as digital entertainment (33.6%), online education (32.1%), and digital payments (29.2%), demonstrated comparatively higher levels of awareness. In contrast, livelihood- and safety-oriented domains—including small-scale industries (10.9%), agricultural technologies (15.0%), and cybercrime awareness (13.0%)—showed substantially lower levels of awareness. These patterns highlight the persistence of digital inequalities despite geographical proximity to urban infrastructure.
The study theoretically explores the concept of a peri-urban paradox, proposing that proximity to metropolitan areas does not necessarily translate into higher levels of digital awareness. Drawing on Diffusion of Innovation theory and the Capability Approach, the study demonstrates how visibility, peer interaction, and capability-related constraints contribute to uneven digital awareness across different domains.
The findings underscore the need for targeted and context-sensitive interventions that extend beyond infrastructure provision to strengthen livelihood-oriented and safety-related digital awareness. Overall, the study contributes to ongoing discussions on digital inclusion in the Global South by providing empirical evidence of domain-specific patterns of digital awareness within peri-urban rural communities.
