In recent years, digital health care and social welfare services have been spreading rapidly and partly replacing face-to-face services, particularly in developed countries. This may lead to a ...pronounced digital inequality. This population-based study of Finnish adults (N = 4495) examined the associations of offline resources with perceived benefits from online services and the mediating effects of access, skills and attitudes in these associations. The results indicated that those with lower personal, economic and social offline resources perceived online services as less beneficial. This was largely explained by poor access to the services, poor digital skills and negative attitudes towards online services. To increase equality, it would be important to improve Internet access and digital skills and implement means to address negative attitudes, especially among vulnerable groups. Moreover, online health and social welfare services should be designed to be more inclusive.
This research paper explores the gender disparities in accessing and using information and communication technologies (ICT) in various local municipalities in South Africa. A statistical technique ...called small area estimation (SAE) is utilized to improve the accuracy of the estimates. It involves using both the 2016 Community Survey (CS2016) and the Population Census 2011 (PC2011) and applying methods such as the log-transformed spatial Fay-Herriot (FH) and the hierarchical Bayes spatial FH models. According to the results, the digital statistics estimates generated by the SAE methods at the local municipality level are more precise and efficient than the direct design-based estimates. In other words, combining the CS2016 and PC2011 datasets with the spatial information resulted in more precise estimates. The results also indicate a digital divide between men and women. Specifically, South African men tend to use the internet more than women. However, disparities in cell phone ownership have diminished at the national level, and the gap in some local municipalities, such as Kheis, Midvaal, Kgatelopele, Thabazimbi, and Karoo Hoogland, is >30 %. The results provide evidence of the digital gender divide within South African households at the local municipality level. Indeed, as the Fourth Industrial Revolution is now underway, the analysis of digital statistics can provide policymakers with a clear picture of South Africa's readiness level to welcome this revolution.
•The digital gender divide was examined at the local municipality level in South Africa.•The 2016 Community Survey and the 2011 Census datasets were combined by utilizing SAE models.•The spatial Fay-Herriot (FH) and the HB spatial FH models were taken into account.•Men in South Africa tend to use the internet more frequently than women.•The gap in the ownership of cell phones has decreased on a national level.
Although much research examines the factors that affect technology adoption and use, less is known about how older adults as a group differ in their ability to use the Internet. The theory of digital ...inequality suggests that even once people have gone online, differences among them will persist in important ways such as their online skills. We analyze survey data about older American adults’ Internet skills to examine whether skills differ in this group and if they do, what explains differential online abilities. We find that there is considerable variation in Internet know-how and this relates to both socioeconomic status and autonomy of use. The results suggest that attempts to achieve a knowledgeable older adult population regarding Internet use must take into account these users’ socioeconomic background and available access points.
Governments and public health institutions across the globe have set social distancing and stay-at-home guidelines to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. With reduced opportunities to spend time together ...in person come new challenges to remain socially connected. This essay addresses how the pandemic has changed people’s use of digital communication methods, and how inequalities in the use of these methods may arise. We draw on data collected from 1,374 American adults between 4 and 8 April 2020, about two weeks after lockdown measures were introduced in various parts of the United States. We first address whether people changed their digital media use to reach out to friends and family, looking into voice calls, video calls, text messaging, social media, and online games. Then, we show how age, gender, living alone, concerns about Internet access, and Internet skills relate to changes in social contact during the pandemic. We discuss how the use of digital media for social connection during a global public health crisis may be unequally distributed among citizens and may continue to shape inequalities even after the pandemic is over. Such insights are important considering the possible impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people’s social wellbeing. We also discuss how changes in digital media use might outlast the pandemic, and what this means for future communication and media research.
Digitalisation in transport services offers many benefits for travellers. However, not everyone is willing or able to follow the new, more or less formal requirements digitalisation has brought ...along. Existing reviews on the intersection between Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and mobility cover a range of vantage points, but the perspective of how various levels of engagement with digital technologies affect access and navigation of transport services has not been addressed yet. In communication science, studying disparities in terms of ICT appropriation and their consequences is known as digital inequality research. This review paper aims at shedding light on what digital inequality in the context of transport services consists of and what its consequences are. To do so, we define and use a conceptual framework for the analysis of digital inequality in transport services. The review of the twenty-five papers, as selected in our systematic literature search, shows that there is a burgeoning interest in this topic. Vulnerability to digitalisation in transport services exists along dimensions of age, income, education, ethnicity, gender and geographical region. We find that motivations and material access get more attention than digital skills and effective usage. Nevertheless, literature acknowledges that having material access to technology does not mean that people benefit from what technology has to offer. Furthermore, the characteristics of ICTs impact one's possibilities to access digital technologies, such as how user-friendly a technology is. Data-driven and algorithm-based decision-making present a particularly pernicious form of digital exclusion from transport services. As digital technologies are progressively becoming indispensable to navigate the world of transport services, low levels of digital engagement may create a new layer of transport disadvantage, possibly on top of existing ones. Although digitalisation can be part of the solution to transport disadvantage, it can also be part of the problem. With network effects at play, what might start as a relative disadvantage may turn into an absolute disadvantage. Given the nascent state of research on digital inequality in transport services, much remains to be understood. Suggested research avenues include mechanisms of digital exclusion from transport services, the contribution of digital inequality to transport disadvantage, and importantly, solutions to mitigate its impacts.
As Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), such as the internet and mobile phones, facilitate the spread of knowledge and interactions across borders in previously unimagined ways, ...questions are being asked about whether the benefits of this digitization process are equally distributed between and within countries. Motivated by the way technology adoption and usage patterns may differ in the Arab Middle East, this paper examines how the Kuwaiti context shapes people’s understanding of a survey instrument used for evaluating digital inequalities, as they relate to access, skills and engagement, and outcomes of ICT use. Specifically, it discusses the adaptation and validation of the survey measures of socio-digital inequalities through a process of cognitive interviewing and provides insight into the theoretical and empirical linkages between cultural conceptions of digital and traditional inequalities in ways that explore both their universal and contextual aspects, or denotative and connotative meanings. Evidence suggests that important cross-cultural complications relate to language issues, socio-economic conditions, citizenship, and differing perceptions of social desirability. These findings offer important considerations for improving the reliability and validity of future survey-scale adaptations in the broader MENA region, especially in countries containing significant multicultural populations. Simultaneously, they call into question the extent to which global conceptualizations of digital inequalities and their measures reflect complex local realities.
Digitalisation in public transport has become pervasive over the past decade, especially in urban areas. While it benefits many, it also leaves some behind. Previous research shows that older adults, ...people with a lower education level, people with impairments and people with a migration background are more likely to be negatively impacted by digitalisation in transport services. In order to uncover mechanisms behind digital inequality in public transport, we interviewed 39 people belonging to these groups. They experience difficulties due to low digital skills, not using digital technologies on-the-go, not possessing the right devices and due to a complex design of technologies, among others. Many participants reap some benefits of digitalisation though. In fact, individuals can experience benefits on one aspect and difficulties on another. Nevertheless, experiencing difficulties with digitalisation does not necessarily equal to exclusion from public transport thanks to coping strategies like support from one's social network. Still, many coping strategies come with pitfalls such as hidden work and costs. Digital technologies facilitate a self-service approach that paradoxically makes some people more dependent on others. This study can support practitioners and researchers in developing a better understanding of the (sometimes insidious) consequences of technological innovations on individuals.
•Individuals can experience benefits of and difficulties with digitalisation in PT.•Difficulties with digitalisation in PT can cause stress and raise generalised costs.•In the most extreme cases, these difficulties can contribute to exclusion from PT.•Individuals use coping strategies that do not always offer a permanent solution.•Digitalisation in public transport can make some people more dependent on others.
How do physical digital inequalities persist as technology becomes commonplace? We consider this question using surveys and focus groups with U.S. college students, a group that has better than ...average connectivity. Findings from a 748-person nonrepresentative survey revealed that ownership and use of cellphones and laptops were nearly universal. However, roughly 20% of respondents had difficulty maintaining access to technology (e.g., broken hardware, data limits, connectivity problems, etc.). Students of lower socioeconomic status and students of color disproportionately experienced hardships, and reliance on poorly functioning laptops was associated with lower grade point averages. Focus group and open-ended data elaborate these findings. Findings quantitatively validate the technology maintenance construct, which proposes that as access to information and communication technology peaks, the digital divide is increasingly characterized by the (in)ability to maintain access. Data highlight overlooked nuances in digital access that may inform social disparities and the policies that may mitigate them.
There are about 13 million visually disabled people in China, among which more than 8 million are blind. As an information-vulnerable group, they have unequal access to digital media. In this ...context, this study, by applying domestication theory, analyzes the use of digital media by the visually impaired in China based on 40 deep interviews and finds out that digital media, as a necessary opportunity, can indeed create more possibilities for increasing the social participation and improving the daily life of the visually impaired. But due to systematic and personal factors, this opportunity cannot be enjoyed by all visually impaired people. Visually impaired people have a strong subjective initiative, which can weaken the impact of digital exclusion on themselves to a certain extent. But social inclusion still determines the effect of digital inclusion, which needs to be taken seriously.
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