Identification of factors affecting digital divide in Iran (Study: Qom province villages)With the Delphi approach and the Fuzzy Hierarchy

According to available statistics, the digital divide or information gap is clearly evident across countries, especially in urban and rural areas. In recent years, efforts have been made to develop information and communication technology in Iranian villages to reduce the digital divide.  This study aimed to identify scientific and practical strategies for identifying the effective factors of digital divide in Qom province villages with Delphi and Fuzzy Hierarchy approach. This research is a descriptive-survey research in terms of purpose and in terms of data collection. The population of the study consisted of experts and senior managers of ICT area of ​​Qom province. Judicial sampling and sample size were limited due to the statistical population. Delphi and hierarchical fuzzy questionnaires were used for the measurement. The results of the Delphi two-step computational approach to achieving the conceptual model of research consisted of 9 criteria and 42 sub-criteria.