Abstract:

In Bulgaria, albeit is gradually subsided over the last few years, the problem "digital divide" is still present. There is clearly divide in society caused by the presence of specific digital barriers among which lack of access to ICT, lack of digital literacy skills and lack of motivation for the use of modern ICT.

The study of globally best practices gave reason to believe that the digital barriers in Bulgaria can be simultaneously overcome by the construction of centres providing public access to IT. After reviewing existing possibilities, it was found that the system of the Bulgarian Chitalishte can naturally take on this function. The objective of this article is to assess to what extent Bulgarian Chitalishte could help in the process of overcoming the digital divide at the national level. The possibilities for this are analysed in the context of the existing digital barriers in Bulgaria, factors such as a territorial distribution of the Chitalishta, availability of material and technical base and human resources within each Chitalishte are successfully influencing the implementation of measures for overcoming the DIGITAL divide in the country.

Keywords:

Digital Divide, Digital Barriers, Chitalishte.