Benefits of Bridging Digital Divide

1. Benefits of Bridging Digital Divide • Many e-society benefits are even stronger in poor countries • Shop/learn/book/vote/etc at home • Especially valuable if travel is difficult • Limited choice even in major cities? • Avoid huge queues at train stations, etc

2. Information provision • Big benefit to making info available • Prices (which port pays most for fish?) • Service updates (eg, trains) • Govt info: rules, announcements, etc • Educational material • Internet fantastic for academics in poor countries • Health advice • etc

3. Commercial Benefits • Outsourcing: Web makes it easier for people in India, etc to provide services for people in wealthy countries • More well-paid (by Indian standard) jobs • Cheaper purchasing • Not at mercy of local monopolists

4. Political benefits? • Bureaucratic corruption, incompetent, indifference often huge problem • Can Web help reduce this? • Political repression major problem • Can Web help reduce this • Controversial

5. Discussion • Comments from class members ? especially from diverse countries

6. Digital Divide: UK • Internet Access in UK • Does Digital Exclusion hurt people? • Can Net/Web help underclass?

7. Internet Access in UK • 70% of UK households have Internet access • 63% have broadband • Who does not have access? • “digitally excluded” • http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/iahi0809.pdf • Generally: People who use it use it a lot

8. Age matters most • Proportion never used Internet • 16-24: very small • 25-44: 5% • 45-54: 16% • 55-64: 24% • 65+: 64%

9. Education also matters • Household Internet access • 95% of adults with degrees (<70 years) • 52% of adults with no quals (<70 years)

10. Disabilities matter? • In 2004, only 30% of disabled adults had Internet access • Compared to 50% overall in 2004 • Don’t know what 2009 figures are, I assume gap persists

11. Does poverty matter? • When asked why their household does not have Internet access, 25% say too expensive • But govt provides free Internet access in public libraries, which is not heavily used • So not just poverty…

12. Why people say no access • 34%: don’t need it • 24%: don’t want it • 15%: equipment too expensive • 15%: lack skills • 11%: access (phone/broadband) too exp • 10%: have access elsewhere

13. Why no access • Quotes from Demos report • I’d love to give it a go, I just don’t know where to start • Just stick to what you know, that’s what I say • You can’t miss what you never had • I’m a big fan of using the Internet to send pictures long distance to family, I just don’t think I’ll ever be able to do it

14. Access mostly at home • Use Internet • At home: 94% • At work: 43% • Someone else’s home: 28% • School, uni: 15% • Internet café: 6% • Library: 5% • Public access (library) not too common

15. Does location matter? • Five years ago, many rural areas did not have good Internet access • Difference in rural/urban household Internet access not clear from statistics

16. Mobile access less common • Access Internet via • Laptop with wireless: 26% • 2G mobile: 18% • 3G mobile: 8% • Different from many third-world countries, where most people access net via mobiles

17. Summary • Who does not use Internet • Elderly, poorly educated, disabled • don’t want to change • lack skills to use Internet, scared of it? • Put off by jargon: eg, “blog” vs “diary” • harder to use net because of disabilities? • Head-switch vs mouse

18. Child with Head Switch

19. Many exceptions!! • Many elderly, poorly educated, disabled people use the Internet every day! • Vera (76): I’ve only been using computers for a couple of years, and it took some convincing to get started, but now Iove it • Statistical generalisations, not absolute laws

20. Impact • Does “digital exclusion” hurt people? • Keep in mind elderly, disabled, poorly educated are already “bottom of the heap” • How would Internet access help these people?

21. Benefits of E-Society • Cheaper, better goods • Elderly, disabled have hard time shopping around • More social interaction via email, etc • Elderly, disabled often isolated • Better education, work prospects • For poorly educated

22. Costs of E-Society • Fears that digitally excluded will be left behind as society goes digital • Worse access to govt services • Closure of local bookstores, etc because of e-competition • Feeling left behind in general, as society embraces the web/net • Enhance social isolation

23. Govt programs • Many govt initiatives • Provide computers to poor people, especially young people • Provide computers in community centres, libraries • Subsidise broadband in rural areas • UK has Minister for Digital Inclusion • Not clear to me what he does…

24. Example: Social Isolation • Many elderly people in UK live on their own, away from family • Really want contact with (grand)children • Internet can help • Email, Skype, social networks, … • Internet can hurt • Grandchildren not interested in face-to-face visits • How do you interact with your (grand)parents • Does Internet help or hurt?

25. Can Net help solve social prob • One of UK’s biggest problem is “underclass” • 20% of population who live in sink estates, can’t read, can’t get a job, etc • Can net/web/e-society help such people

26. SkillSum again • Reminder: research project to assess people with poor reading and maths skills • Web-based • Encourage people to get help if appropriate • Didn’t work well because of IPR/face-to-face issues • Would it help if it did work?

27. Yes it would help • Helping the underclass get good jobs is the best way to help them • They cannot get decent jobs if they cannot read or do basic maths • E-learning can help them acquire these skills

28. No it won’t help • Other problems need to be solved • Kate X (16 yrs old, bright, uneducated) • Main barrier is that her peers beat her up (hospitalise her) if she seems to take her education seriously • Brian Y (17 yrs old, bright, uneducated) • Doing well, learning reading/maths; but wants to be a plumber and there aren’t any such jobs locally (and he won’t move)

29. Stories • Jane Z (24 yrs old, avg intelligence) • Working as shop assistant, can’t get better job unless improve reading/maths • Drug addict: trying to quit, but borrowed money from local pusher at loan shark rates, cannot pay this off, pusher’s goons attacked her boyfriend for non-payment • Hard to help her until drug problem resolved

30. Can we help • E-Society limited help to people who are truly bottom of heap? • E-Society in third-world countries: not much help to people who are worried about getting enough to eat • E-Society in UK: not much help to drug addict in debt thralldom to local pusher • More help to people who have more moderate problems?

31. Other ways of helping • E-govt: better access to benefits, social housing • E-commerce: easier to apply for jobs, more aware of jobs outside local area • E-health: info on diet, smoking, etc • Do these work?

32. Class opinions? • Can we use net/web/e-society to help the underclass? • Or is this pointless because it doesn’t address the “real” underlying problems?