The Commodification of Information and the Knowledge Gap in Egyptian Society:

The problem of the study is to study the relationship between the commodification of information and the knowledge gap in the Egyptian society which mainly targets a consumer. This research belongs to field research aimed at analyzing and studying the contribution of modern technologies to the commodification of information and how this affects the so-called knowledge gap, and how the possession of knowledge and its tools and the disparity of the social and economic level affect the size of the knowledge gap between users of the Egyptian Knowledge Bank as one of the most important databases Where not all postgraduate students can obtain the informational content represented in the information in the Knowledge Bank, and how this affects the knowledge gap between those who have and those who do not have modern technologies.
The methodology of the study here is the method of correlational studies, which is an organized scientific effort to obtain information and data on the issue under study, as the subject of the current study links two variables, namely (the commodification of information and the knowledge gap). The current study was applied to a regular random sample consisting of (400) postgraduate students at Alexandria and Pharos Universities, based on gender, age group, scientific specialization, social and economic levels, and other factors.
The study aims to identify the size of the contributions of the Internet in the availability of knowledge and information and the methods of information and communication technology in the commodification of information and to identify the knowledge gap and the levels of discrepancy between the different segments, as well as to identify the contribution of information and knowledge banks in narrowing the gap.
the most important results of the study:

The contribution of the Internet and means of communication in the availability of information and knowledge. This was evident through the participation of all respondents in the Internet and means of communication to obtain information. Speaking of subscription to the Internet and means of communication, we find that most of the questionnaires have an Internet subscription, with 51% coming in the first place. Followed by participation in the Egyptian Knowledge Bank by 40.5%, then participation in information sites by 8.5%.
The reliance of the researchers in the sample on the Egyptian Knowledge Bank as a main source of information, as this came in the first place with a rate of 78%.
As for the reason why some respondents have difficulty obtaining information, it may be due, from their point of view, to insufficient experience with information sources, as this came in the first place with a rate of 66%, followed by in the next position not obtaining information easily due to the fact that it requires high expenditures by 32.5%. %, and the respondents were unable to obtain information for other reasons, with a rate of 1.5%
Turning to the increase in information prices, it is noted that 79.5% of the respondents reported that there is an actual increase in information prices, while only 20.5% reported that there was no increase in information prices from their point of view, and the reason for the increase in information prices from the respondents' point of view It turned out that they attributed the first reason for this to being that the information they seek to obtain is from Western sources, as this came in the first place with a percentage of 50%, while the second place came because the information they seek to obtain is subject to private institutions with a percentage of 49, 7%, and in the third place came the respondents who believe that the increase in information prices occurs as a result of other reasons, with a rate of 0.31%.
Speaking about the extent to which inequality in capabilities contributes to the knowledge gap, we find that the opinion of the respondents who believe that inequality in capabilities sometimes causes the knowledge gap came in the first place with a rate of 67%, and the second place came the percentage of respondents who believe that inequality in capabilities is always It is not a reason for the occurrence of the knowledge gap, at a rate of 29%. As for those who believe that there is no relationship between inequality in capabilities and the occurrence of the knowledge gap, they came in third place with a rate of 4%.
Speaking about the causes of the knowledge gap, we find that the availability of knowledge is one of the most important reasons for the emergence of the gap among the beneficiaries, as the percentage of respondents who believe that the causes of the knowledge gap is the unavailability of knowledge came in the first place at 77.75%, and the second place came in the percentage of respondents who believe that the cause of the knowledge gap is It is making knowledge available to all, at a rate of 22.25%.
As for knowledge skills, the percentage of respondents who believe that lack of knowledge of technological skills causes a knowledge gap came in the first place with a rate of 36%, and the second place came with respondents who believe that language is the cause of the knowledge gap with a rate of 35%, while the third place It was the share of respondents who believe that lack of knowledge of technical skills is the cause of the knowledge gap, with a percentage of 29%
The effect of making the Egyptian Knowledge Bank available on the commodification of information from the point of view of the respondents, the sample, that scientific research has become less burdensome for the researcher, as this came in the first place with a rate of 40%, and in the second place came the provision of the informational saturation element by 29%, while the third place was Both increased the researcher's creativity and changed the researcher's behavior in searching for information by 15.5%.
The Egyptian Knowledge Bank has an effective role in reducing the knowledge gap, as it came in the first place with a unified policy to work under its banner with a rate of 49%, and the possibility of obtaining free resources for education from all over the world came in the second place with a rate of 22%, and the possibility of sharing information and access Information for the beneficiary without cost came in the third place with a rate of 15%, while preparing access to information with high quality to benefit from it came in the fourth place with a rate of 14%.
The Egyptian Knowledge Bank has a significant impact on the commodification of information, as scientific research has become less burdensome for the researcher, and this is what came by 40%, and it also contributed to providing the element of informational saturation, and that was by 29%, and increased the researcher's ability to creativity, and contributed to changing the behavior of The researcher in the search for information by 15.5%.