Abstract:

The Internet of things (IoT) has become widespread in recent years and has offered new dimensions of the digital divide: the challenge facing human society since the advent of computer technology. In recent decades, scientists have explored many aspects to explain how people use technologies. The introduction and operation of IoT impose specific requirements on the literacy of users, about their ability to use this technology, and the data obtained from them - to be analyzed.

It can be argued that the IoT is one of the biggest challenges in the field of digital literacy. The use of IoT requires the possession of specific digital skills that provide a competitive advantage and generate maximum benefits for those who possess them. The potential benefits of IoT suggest that the divide in access to IoT has the potential to further exacerbate existing inequalities in society. There is a good chance that only a select group (the so-called "IoT elite") will take advantage of the possibilities of IoT technologies, which makes the study of the IoT divide important from the point of view of the digital divide.

This article examines the problems of the digital divide in the light of IoT, focusing on existing barriers to digital equality. This article aims to highlight the problems and barriers to using IoT and to initiate a discussion on ways to overcome these new challenges. As a result, a paradigm of competencies and barriers for acquiring IoT literacy is proposed as a new dimension of digital literacy.

Keywords:

IoT, digital divide, digital literacy, digital barriers, inequality.