Society is digitally divided between the digitally included and digitally excluded. Digital inclusion has divided our society, class by class. ICT has accelerated the importance of digital literacy in every sector of society. Due to the widening gap between those with easy access to the internet and those without, also referred to as the “digital divide”, universal access is more crucial than ever. Digital literacy is more critical than ever as the internet becomes increasingly integrated into all aspects of individual, community, and commercial life. Digital inclusion has become the way to address issues related to digital literacy and access to ICT
What is digital inclusion:
Digital inclusion involves ensuring the activities that are necessary to ensure all individuals and communities have access to and make use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). For an environment to be digitally enabled and inclusive it requires certain requirements.
These include 5 elements:
- High-speed, reliable internet service with reasonable costs;
- Internet-connected devices that meet the user’s needs;
- Access to digital literacy training;
- Providing quality technical support;
- Applications and online content that are designed to enable and encourage self-sufficiency, participation and collaboration.
Technological advancements are forcing digital inclusion to evolve. Digital inclusion is aimed at reducing structural, institutional, and historical barriers to technology access and usage. Programs and policies that work together to support the digital inclusion needs of a specific geographical community compose a Digital Inclusion Ecosystem. Coordination involves addressing all aspects of the digital divide, including affordable broadband, devices, and skills.
How to implement digital inclusion in the workplace:
Focus on user needs
Customize support around the unique barriers that stop people from going online, and adapt to people’s changing needs. Access, cost, confidence and skills are all barriers that individuals need customized support to get over. The user needs to be at the centre of the design process – not the government or business – so that their changing needs are always taken into account.
Improve access
Give socially and economically excluded people easy access to low-cost, simple internet options. There are many risks associated with using the Internet. Digital exclusion often puts people at risk of social and economic exclusion, and they could benefit from going online the most. When new internet users are made to understand the practical steps of going online, it makes a huge difference to their overall experience.
Find a cause that motivates people
People can’t be forced into doing something they don’t like. A connection to the internet is useless if you don’t have a reason to use it. Nobody wants to learn digital skills just for the sake of doing so. Bring digital to people in a way that benefits them; make it easier for them to do what they love and only can do online.
Build trust
Help people stay safe online by providing advice and tools that are clear, simple, and straightforward. Many people are frightened to go online because they are exposing themselves to new risks. The key to keeping people online for the long term is having trustworthy sources they can rely on for help, support, and assurance. It is impossible for the internet to be 100% secure, so staying safe online should be a basic skill of digital literacy.
Collaboration is key
Expertise, experience, and resources should be harnessed together to better serve users. There is a need for stronger coordination and links between the government, private sector and voluntary sector.
Focus on wider outcomes
By helping people become independent online and using data to understand what works, identify broader outcomes that can be delivered. When it comes to reducing digital exclusion, it’s not about the number of people who sign up once and log off. We need to improve our methods of measuring digital inclusion. To reap the benefits of going digital and maximizing impact for minimal resources, it is critical to identify and prioritize against wider outcomes, agree upon common measures, evaluate and test what works, as well as iterate and improve.
Our society is more likely to suffer a loss as long as some segments of our society are excluded by the digital divide. Getting access to information is essential for citizens to participate fully in nearly every aspect of modern life, including economic achievement, educational achievement, positive health outcomes, and civic engagement. Going digital also adds to a more inclusive workplace not just digitally inclusive which creates a healthier and more productive environment to work in.
In the wake of the digital revolution, governments, non-profits, and businesses will be required to increase access to ICT broadly. Only in this way can a more enabling, competitive and inclusive global society be created. This is why organisations need to advance in their methods of enforcing and integrating digital in their workplace but it can only start with the intention to digitally evolve as a whole.
We at DigiRev believe in helping organisations invite a more digitally inclusive work culture leaving no one behind. Click here to get in touch!
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