Digital inequalities disproportionately affect vulnerable and marginalized populations, including formerly incarcerated persons (FIPs), who experience compound vulnerabilities, such as advanced ...aging, disability, low incomes and education, gender-based marginalization, and in the United States also race and ethnicity. Building on existing frameworks of digital skills and Reisdorf and Rikard’s digital rehabilitation model, this article examines how FIPs navigate the digital society post-incarceration and provides support for the digital rehabilitation model. Examining data from focus groups with FIPs in the United States, we demonstrate that lack of access to ICTs and the Internet during incarceration deprives FIPs of necessary digital skills to navigate the various fields of everyday life (economic, social, cultural, personal, health) that are deeply embedded in digital technologies. Policies regarding digital rehabilitation need to increase limited Internet access during incarceration and provide comprehensive digital skills training tailored to FIPs to allow their full integration into the speed-of-light society.
The introduction of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been shown to play a role in reinforcing existing social inequalities. This study aims to gain insights into the perspectives, ...experiences and needs of disadvantaged groups with respect to ICT. In the Netherlands, a relatively large and important group of non-users are mothers with a low socio-economic position (SEP). Little attention has been paid to understanding why mothers with a low SEP scarcely use ICTs. In an explorative participatory study in Amsterdam, using observations, interviews and focus groups, our results show that reinforcing factors related to poverty, motherhood, the complexity of ICT and being first-generation immigrant influence access. The mothers’ needs are multifaceted and go beyond the simple distribution of ICT devices. ICT education should be tailored and integrated into existing social services and the daily lives of the mothers. Moreover, policymakers should pay attention to adapting the online information services to the mothers’ strengths.
A growing body of literature is advancing the impact of financial inclusion and digital finance on marginalized populations. However, mainstream scholarship has not focused on understanding the ...potential drivers and challenges of digital approaches to financial inclusion. This study aims to investigate the mismatch between assumptions implicit in the financial inclusion discourse and ideas of access and use of digital technologies and seeks to move the discourse forward through a comprehensive framework for digital financial inclusion. Our study showed that the social dynamics of financial engagement with new technologies require a move beyond a simple individualistic adopter/non-adopter binary framework and ‘supply oriented’ financial infrastructure. We conclude that although digital services have eased and bridged the gap of physical access to financial services, such services have not been utilised due to lack of basic connectivity, financial literacy and social awareness. This article theoretically contributes to digital financial services adoption literature by offering a significant critical overview and a new perspective on both digital finance and financial inclusion mechanisms.
•Rural people have low levels of digital financial inclusion due to lack of digital inclusion and social exclusion.•We advance the theoretical framework of digital financial inclusion that incorporates the multidimensional aspects of inclusion.•Low skills and demographic factors attributed to insufficient ICT infrastructure and digital financial services.•Stakeholders should consider the development of digital and financial literacy programs in the rural areas.
Cognitive intelligence is rarely discussed in the context of digital inequality for practical and normative reasons: substantial difficulties around measurements and the fact that it cannot (easily) ...be changed. In the current contribution, cognitive intelligence is studied in relation to resources and appropriation theory which explains digital inequality as a process of four successive phases of Internet access: motivational, material, skills, and usage. For the measurement of cognitive intelligence, we build on considerable efforts devoted to developing alternatives to cumbersome intelligence quotient (IQ) tests of intelligence. We conducted a two-wave online survey in the Netherlands, resulting in a sample of 1733 respondents. The importance of IQ was confirmed with direct positive effects on education, economic, social, and cultural resources, and on Internet attitude and skills. The results reveal several details that can enhance our understanding of the specific mechanisms through which IQ and education operate in digital inequalities.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is more complex and abstract than previous information and communication technologies as there are many connections occurring. New challenges for users arise from ...increased amount of data, decisions made automatically, less visibility and more ambiguity, and magnified security and privacy risks. There is a fair chance that only a selective group will benefit, making it important to study IoT from a digital inequality perspective. The current study focused on health, home, and security related IoT by conducting a survey among a representative sample of the Dutch population. The study was guided by resources and appropriation theory. IoT attitudes and material access as well as educational and income differences play an important role. Those with higher education and those with higher incomes have more positive attitudes and are the first to actually buy IoT. This also means that they are the first to develop the required skills and to engage in a diverse IoT use. The results suggest that to make the IoT attractive for larger parts of the population, clear terms of use and user-friendly IoT should be an important objective. Stimulating positive attitudes towards IoT will increase the likelihood of IoT ownership, development of IoT skills, and, eventually, a wider diversity of IoT use. Policies should aim to stress the potential outcomes IoT has to offer and should promote transparency and disclosure of how personal data is used as well as better privacy, security practices and regulation.
ABSTRACT In this article, there is a contextualized analysis, through a critical approach, of Decree No. 9.204, of November 23, 2017, which instituted the Connected Education Innovation Program, the ...new Ministry of Education policy to replace the National Computer Program in Education, and its intertextuality, based on the legal normative framework initiated with the National Education Plan (2014-2024), considering the theoretical and methodological influences in the formulation of the cycle of national public policies for the use of digital technologies and their consequences on the education system in Amazonas. As a result, it was confirmed that only 4% of public schools in the state of Amazonas managed to adhere to Connected Education Innovation Program, while adherence as a regulatory mechanism of national policy proved to be excluding, and the goal of universal access to the internet in basic education public schools in Brazil until 2019 has not been achieved.
RESUMO Neste artigo é realizada uma análise contextualizada, por meio de uma abordagem crítica, do Decreto nº 9.204, de 23 de novembro de 2017. O decreto instituiu o Programa de Inovação Educação Conectada, a política do Ministério da Educação em substituição ao Programa Nacional de Informática na Educação, e sua intertextualidade a partir do marco normativo legal iniciado com o Plano Nacional de Educação (2014-2024), considerando as influências teórico-metodológicas na formulação do ciclo de políticas públicas nacionais para o uso das tecnologias digitais e suas consequências no sistema de ensino do Amazonas. Como resultado, confirmou-se que apenas 4% das escolas públicas do estado do Amazonas conseguiram aderir ao Programa de Inovação Educação Conectada, enquanto a adesão como um mecanismo regulador da política nacional revelou-se excludente e a meta da universalização do acesso à internet nas escolas públicas de educação básica no Brasil até 2019 não foi alcançada.
RESUMEN En este artículo, se lleva a cabo un análisis contextualizado, a través de un enfoque crítico, del Decreto No. 9.204, del 23 de noviembre de 2017, que instituyó el Programa de Innovación Educativa Conectada, la nueva política de Ministerio de Educación para reemplazar el Programa Nacional de Computación en Educación, y su intertextualidad basada en el marco normativo legal iniciado con el Plan Nacional de Educación (2014-2024), considerando las influencias teóricas y metodológicas en la formulación del ciclo de políticas públicas nacionales para el uso de tecnologías digitales y sus consecuencias en el sistema educativo en el Amazonas. Como resultado, se confirmó que solo el 4% de las escuelas públicas del estado de Amazonas lograron adherirse al Programa de Innovación Educativa Conectada, mientras que la adhesión como mecanismo regulador de la política nacional resultó ser excluyente y el objetivo del acceso universal a Internet en las escuelas públicas de educación en Brasil hasta 2019 no se ha logrado.
The growing use of digital evidence from smartphones and social media has led to a digital divide in the US criminal justice system that advantages law enforcement and prosecutors while further ...increasing the vulnerability of poor people and people of color who rely on public legal assistance. Drawing on a year-long ethnographic study of one of the first digital forensics laboratories in a public defender office, I argue that digital inclusion in the form of better resources for public defenders is necessary for equitable and fair representation in today’s criminal justice system. Findings show that access to digital forensic technologies is an important equalizing tool that allows public defenders to (1) mount strong, data-driven cases; (2) create counter narratives that challenge depictions of marginalized defendants as dangerous; and (3) engage in nuanced storytelling to highlight the complexities of human relationships and life circumstances that shape cases.
•People with disabilities (PWD) are less likely to use the Internet and are less likely to engage in a wide range of activities when online.•However, controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, ...PWD are no less likely to engage in any activities online, and are more likely to engage in some.•The five activities involve key areas of online production and consumption, such as sharing content, reviewing products and writing reviews.•Results show that barriers for PWD going online exist, but the online world may offer a means to adapt to an inaccessible culture and society.
While the digital inequality literature has considered differences in the online experiences of many population segments, relatively little work has examined how people with disabilities (PWD) have incorporated digital media into their lives. Based on a national survey of American adults, this paper explores this question through considering both barriers to Internet use and the possibilities the Internet offers PWD. Findings indicate barriers for many PWD to accessing the Internet. Those with five of six types of disabilities measured are considerably less likely to be online than those who are not disabled. People who are deaf or hearing impaired to do not lag in Internet access once we account for demographics, Web use skills, and Internet experiences. However, the study also finds evidence that once online, PWD engage in a range of uses of the Internet as much as people without disability. Moreover, PWD take distinct interest in certain online activities, such as sharing their own content and reviewing products and services, pointing to ways they may go online to adapt and respond to the wider inaccessible society. These findings indicate great potential for the Internet for people with disabilities and suggest that moving more of them online holds the potential for considerable gains among this group.
Widespread technological changes, like the rapid uptake of telehealth in the US during the COVID-19 pandemic, risk creating or widening racial/ethnic disparities. We conducted a secondary analysis of ...a cross-sectional, nationally representative survey of internet users to evaluate whether there were racial/ethnic disparities in self-reported telehealth use early in the pandemic.
The Pew Research Center fielded the survey March 19-24, 2020. Telehealth use because of the pandemic was measured by asking whether respondents (N = 10 624) "used the internet or e-mail to connect with doctors or other medical professionals as a result of the coronavirus outbreak." We conducted survey-weighted logistic regressions, adjusting for respondents' socioeconomic characteristics and perceived threat of the pandemic to their own health (eg, no threat, minor, major).
Approximately 17% of respondents reported using telehealth because of the pandemic, with significantly higher unadjusted odds among Blacks, Latinos, and those identified with other race compared to White respondents. The multivariable logistic regressions and sensitivity analyses show Black respondents were more likely than Whites to report using telehealth because of the pandemic, particularly when perceiving the pandemic as a minor threat to their own health.
Black respondents are most likely to report using telehealth because of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly when they perceive the pandemic as a minor health threat.
The systemic racism creating health and health care disparities has likely raised the need for telehealth among Black patients during the pandemic. Findings suggest opportunities to leverage a broadly defined set of telehealth tools to reduce health care disparities postpandemic.
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