Anyone who’s spent time in both a city and the countryside knows the gap isn’t just about scenery or pace of life. Increasingly, it’s about digital opportunity—who’s wired in, who’s building online businesses, and who’s left waiting for a signal. The so-called “digital divide” is talked about often, but when it comes to actually measuring it, things get tricky. That’s where ISIC codes come in, offering a way to give structure to a problem that too often slips through the cracks of policy reports.
Start with the basics: ISIC codes like 4791 (retail via internet) and 6311 (data processing, hosting, and related activities) map onto the core of the digital economy. Looking at business registries, analysts can count how many firms in these categories are established in a given region. Urban areas tend to have more—no surprise there—but the numbers alone aren’t always enough. What matters is how these codes show patterns over time and space: is the gap closing, widening, or simply shifting as new sectors come online?
The next step is to break things down by jurisdiction. Urban and rural aren’t just labels; they’re sets of lived realities. An urban district might see a steady rise in ISIC 6311 registrations as data centers and cloud providers cluster for scale. Meanwhile, a rural area might have a handful of ISIC 4791 firms—perhaps a few e-commerce startups selling local crafts or farm products online. The pattern isn’t always what you’d expect. Sometimes, digital adoption in rural places moves in fits and starts, spurred by a single entrepreneur or a local broadband initiative.
But the story can’t end with firm counts. Digital opportunity is shaped as much by infrastructure as by ambition. This is where broadband penetration data and mobile subscription figures come in. Overlaying these statistics with ISIC-coded business registrations provides a richer picture: it shows not just where digital firms exist, but where they can realistically grow. In some cases, a rural region might show surprising density in ISIC 4791 firms—until you see that broadband speeds are low, or coverage is spotty, limiting real potential. Conversely, areas with rising connectivity often see a burst of registrations as the pipeline opens.
Integrating these data sets isn’t just a technical task. It invites new questions and, often, challenges assumptions. Why do some connected rural areas lag in digital firm creation? Are there cultural or educational barriers at play? Is local investment lacking? The best analyses bring in local knowledge—interviews, case studies, even town hall discussions—to supplement what the codes and numbers say.
Of course, the data will always have gaps. Not every digital business is registered under the “correct” ISIC code. Some small operations remain informal or don’t bother with registration at all. Mobile and broadband data, meanwhile, can be out of date or inconsistently reported. But the discipline of mapping the digital divide through ISIC codes, and overlaying infrastructure data, still advances the conversation. It moves the discussion from anecdotes and impressions to patterns that can be addressed.
Ultimately, the point isn’t just to track the gap—it’s to close it. When policymakers, investors, and local leaders can see where digital businesses are succeeding and where infrastructure is lagging, they have a real chance to act. The process may be messy, but it’s how progress happens: one firm registration, one broadband hookup, one rural entrepreneur at a time.