From digital divide to digital inclusion

Author(s):  
S. Taylor
Author(s):  
Laura Alcaide Muñoz ◽  
Manuel Pedro Rodríguez Bolívar ◽  
Francisco José Alcaraz Quiles

E-government has enhanced the availability of government information, and expanding access to services, offering greater transparency and accountability for public administrations. However, previous research indicates that there are significant barriers for citizens, assuming major obstacles. In this sense, the EU and, in particular, the Spanish government has formulated policies and legal frameworks to introduce in the field of the provision of public sector services, in order to customize and to access these services. These initiatives seek to promote the development of networks and services, to improve the e-administration and the adoption of digital solutions for efficient delivery of public services, and to promote the inclusion and digital literacy. Therefore, the purpose of this chapter is to obtain a vision of government strategies adopted by Spanish regional governments to reduce the digital divide.


Author(s):  
Viktor Freiman ◽  
Dragana Martinovic ◽  
Xavier Robichaud

The chapter aims to explore, through the lenses of digital divide, what are challenges to alleviating socio-economic and intellectual limitations for prosperity of each individual. Cutting-edge research is reviewed to discuss in what way new technologies and access to them really help to develop citizens who are able to contribute in creative and democratic ways to society. While much effort has been done, in the past decade, to bridge the digital divide, by resolving access issues and usage issues, the recent studies seem to indicate that the gap at all levels, nation-wide, community-wide, special groups-wide still exists and even deepens, especially regarding digital inclusion and meeting needs of at-risk population. More systematic research and innovative practical solutions are needed to address all the aspects of digital divide: physical, financial cognitive, content and political access; also, we have to consider the technological and social resonances of digital technologies in terms of digital literacy and development of critical thinking.


Author(s):  
Viktor Freiman ◽  
Dragana Martinovic ◽  
Xavier Robichaud

The chapter aims to explore, through the lens of digital divide, the challenges to alleviating socio-economic and intellectual limitations for prosperity of each individual. Cutting-edge research is reviewed to discuss in what way new technologies and access to them really help to develop citizens who are able to contribute in creative and democratic ways to society. While much effort has been done in the past decade to bridge the digital divide by resolving access issues and usage issues, the recent studies seem to indicate that the gap at all levels, nation-wide, community-wide, special groups-wide still exists and even deepens, especially regarding digital inclusion and meeting needs of at-risk population. More systematic research and innovative practical solutions are needed to address all the aspects of digital divide: physical, financial cognitive, content, and political access; also, we have to consider the technological and social resonances of digital technologies in terms of digital literacy and development of critical thinking.


2008 ◽  
pp. 1290-1305
Author(s):  
Anna Malina ◽  
Ann Macintosh

Examined in this chapter is action to address the “digital divide,” and possibilities for extending e-democracy to support wider democratic participation using ICT in local communities. We describe current approaches in Scotland for tackling the digital divide, and we discuss the concept of wired communities. We also refer to “Digital Scotland” initiatives, and we outline the aims and expected outcomes from Scotland’s “Digital Communities” projects. Finally, we suggest how action research could extend electronic democratization into the two digital communities being created in Scotland. The research work we suggest would provide a framework in which to better appreciate the significance of technology in supporting e-democracy at local community levels, and in so doing, contribute knowledge to strategy and planning policies and social and digital inclusion agendas in Scotland.


Author(s):  
Ronald M. Baecker

J. C. R. Licklider, Vannevar Bush, Doug Engelbart, Ted Nelson, and Alan Kay optimistically and exuberantly imagined how computers could better the lives of people. Much of this has come to pass. The Internet supports learning by ‘students’ at all levels. Information on laws, procedures, diseases, and medical care may be found on the web. The Internet now provides the easiest, or in some cases the only, way to pay bills or order items such as books, groceries, and even clothing. It is a means of communication with family, friends, individuals one would like to meet, individuals with whom one could share insights, and potential employers. Music, films, and other means of entertainment stream to our digital devices. This implies that those for whom digital technology is not available are at a disadvantage. The gap between the technology-haves and the technology-have-nots became known in the 1990s as a digital divide. The concept is nuanced; we can speak of availability or scarcity of hardware, such as personal computers (PCs) and mobile phones; of infrastructure such as cellular networks; of communications bandwidth that enables a smooth media viewing experience; of expertise in using the technology; of commitment to its use; and of engagement in the process. Some only consume information; others contribute their ideas via methods such as blogging and tweeting. Yet a better way to describe digital technology widely accessible is the goal of social inclusion, to allow all individuals, regardless of socioeconomic status, location, race, gender, or ability or disability, to take advantage of the benefits of modern computing and telecommunications. To have terminology that is even more evocative, we shall use the more modern and descriptive term of digital inclusion. This has been defined by the International Telecommunications Union as ‘empowering people through information and communication technologies (ICTs)’. The term ‘people’ is meant here to imply all people throughout the world. This chapter will first examine the digital divide between the haves and the have-nots (often the rich and the poor) within several nations. Examples of the benefits of digital inclusion will be cited.


Popular Music ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Baker

AbstractThis article focuses on three recent manifestations of cumbia in Buenos Aires, Argentina: digital cumbia released by ZZK Records; retro cumbia orchestras; and a newer strand of digital cumbia, música turra. The first two are identified with the middle class, whereas the third emerged from the clases populares (‘popular classes’). Música turra is underpinned by government policies towards digital inclusion, while middle-class incursions into the traditionally working-class sphere of cumbia, too, suggest increasing social cohesion. However, the digital fascination of música turra contrasts with an embrace of the analogue and acoustic in middle-class cumbia. These developments point to the emergence of a post-digital ethos and a shift from a digital to a post-digital divide, also running along class lines, analysed here through a Bourdieusian lens of taste and distinction. While transnational in nature, the post-digital ethos appears in Buenos Aires in a distinctive local form, articulated to growing Latin Americanism and post-neoliberalism on the part of the middle class.


2005 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 9-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maya Kalyanpur ◽  
Mubina H. Kirmani

This paper analyzes the intersection of technology and diversity in classrooms with reference to the implications of the inequity of access and usage for under-represented groups including low-income, minority students, students from culturally diverse backgrounds, students with disabilities, and female students. Strategies at national and individual levels to facilitate a process of digital inclusion for all children are identified.


2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Augusto Mansor de Mattos ◽  
Bruna Daniela Dias Rocchetti Santos

Resumo O presente texto faz uma leitura crítica da dinâmica da inclusão e da exclusão digital no contexto brasileiro e de suas implicações socioeconômicas, bem como demonstra algumas das falhas de interpretação calcadas em certo determinismo tecnológico e de uma visão exacerbadamente otimista acerca do papel das chamadas novas Tecnologias da Informação e da Comunicação (TICs) no Capitalismo Contemporâneo. Além disso, pretende-se abordar a relação entre a exclusão social, a exclusão digital e o fenômeno da globalização, além de apontar a relevância dos fatores qualitativo e cognitivo no que se refere às políticas públicas de inclusão digital.  Palavras-chave capitalismo contemporâneo; sociedade da informação; inclusão digital; exclusão digital; globalização Abstract This paper aims to analyze the dynamics of the digital divide in the Brazilian context and its socio-economic implications, as well to as it demonstrates some of the imperfections of some studies backed up by a kind of technological determinism and of an extremely optimistic view about the Information Technologies. Moreover, it intends to interpret the relation between the social exclusion, the digital divide and the phenomenon of the economic globalization, beyond highlighting the relevance of the qualitative and cognitive factors related to the public policies of digital inclusion. Keywords contemporary capitalism; information society; digital inclusion; digital divide;  globalization


2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Blaithin Anna Mary Gallagher ◽  
Emma Murphy ◽  
Antoinette Fennell

Our population is ageing. Vision impairment is highly correlated with ageing and the population of older people with vision impairment is increasing. ICT competence is essential to fully partake in society. Older people, in particular those with vision impairment, are at a high risk of being excluded from the digital revolution and must be ecnourage to use ICT's. This paper outlines four projects in which NCBI has been involved in relation to older adults and digital inclusion. Improving access to ICT for older people with vision impairment will enhance their participation in social, cultural and economic life and bridge the digital divide.


Author(s):  
Monica Fantin ◽  
Gilka Girardello

This chapter discusses the digital divide from the perspective of education and culture and highlights the forms in which the problem is presented in Brazil, understanding that it is not exclusive to this context. Given the complex challenges to digital inclusion in the context of globalization, the chapter emphasizes that for children and young people to be able to appropriate new technologies and languages in a significant manner, the promotion of digital literacy should be realized with respect to the concept of multiliteracies. Digital inclusion means much more than access to technologies and is understood as one of the fronts in the struggle against poverty and inequality. The authors propose that the understanding of the digital divide be enriched with the valorization of cultural mediations in the construction of digital literacy. In this sense, a culturalist perspective of media education can promote digital inclusion that is an experience of citizenship, belonging, and critical and creative participation of children and young people in the culture.


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