Picture by Chuck Underwood from Pixabay
by Ole Ho Christiansen
Digitalization is a huge part of our lives. We buy clothes online, we stream movies, we talk to our friends. With the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, even most essential services have moved online, such as health services and groceries. While the use of the internet and computers might come naturally to a lot of people, digitalization leaves behind a big group. This group includes people who don’t own a computer, along with people who wouldn’t even know how to use one. These people cannot reap the benefits that the internet supplies and are left behind in our digital world.
Digital Inclusion
This issue is called digital inclusion which refers to how we must include everyone when we move to the digital world. In the UK more than 4.8 million people never use the internet, according to statistics from the Government Digital Service.
While 4.8 million never go online, more than 11.3 million are digitally illiterate. This means that they lack the basic skills required to effectively use the internet. They will have issues accessing basic health services, ordering groceries, accessing education, and have issues on the job market.
The Digital Divide
This is called the digital divide: the gap between the people who have no issues using the internet, and those who are digitally excluded. It might be tempting to think that this group is only the elder generations, however, the issue is much deeper than that. It also includes low-income people and people in other vulnerable socio-demographic groups. They are disproportionately left out of the digital world and miss out on the social and economic benefits the internet provides.
The digitally excluded are also left behind in terms of health care. With health care providers rapidly adopting digital technology, many patients receive telehealth. This has largely improved patient education, care, and health outcomes. Online services like apps and websites make education, information, and even care available asynchronously. However, if you are digitally excluded, you do not get to take part in this higher quality of health care.
Digital Inclusion and COVID-19
Sabrina Roach, Strategic Engagement Manager at the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, talks about how the pandemic has exposed the digital divide:
One of the solutions to close the digital divide is to have publicly available computers. These computers would usually be available at libraries and schools. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, these places have been closed. That means that a lot of people have been unable to use digital services. Along with that, digital services have been more crucial than ever. People were left unable to leave their houses and essential services were mainly available online. Education was also moved online along with most shopping. Mental health services such as therapy were also digitalized.
Can we close the digital divide?
It is however not impossible to imagine a world without a digital divide. There are many solutions that could be incorporated, according to WebJunction. If computers are made available for free at public locations, more people would be able to access both the internet and other digital tools. The locations of the computers would have to correspond with the locations of the populations that are most prone to digital exclusion. Having free WIFI hotspots will also help make the internet available for more people. Making computers more affordable along with broadband, would mean that more people could have digital tools available in their homes.
Digital Literacy Training
Possibly the most crucial element of fighting the digital divide is Digital Literacy Training. Even if we gave every single digitally excluded person a computer and broadband, a large part of them would not know how to use it. Digital literacy is defined by the National Digital Inclusion Alliance as possessing the variety of skills – technical and cognitive – required to find, understand, evaluate, create, and communicate digital information in a wide variety of formats.
The UK government has defined 5 categories of essential digital skills for life and work. Communicating, handling information and content, transacting, problem-solving, and being safe and legal online.
A lot of people grow up with computers and the internet as an essential part of their life and education, however, some people have never interacted with it at all. These people require training to be able to utilise these devices. If students go through their education without digital literacy training, they will be at a great disadvantage for the rest of their life. In the job market, you will experience many issues if you are digitally illiterate. Therefore, digital literacy training must be made available at trusted and comfortable locations such as libraries, churches, schools, and recreation centres.
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