A global effort towards Digital Inclusion

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A global effort towards Digital Inclusion

• Dr. Costis Toregas
• Taipei June 2006

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The beginning May 2006

• We the participants of the W2i Seventh Digital
  Cities Convention in Los Angeles discussed the
  issue of digital inclusion, heard from experts in
  the field from the academic, the business and the
  governmental environment and decided to assemble
  our deliberations and suggestions for action in a
  Resolution.

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Defining Digital Inclusion

• Digital Divide Lack of access to, and
  proficiency in interacting with,
  information/communication technologies (ICT)
• Digital Divide The difference between the rate
  of technological innovation and the rate of
  absorption/usage in the population.

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Four tiers of inequity

• Access
• Accessibility
• Inclusion
• and Social Equity
• Procedural
• Distributional
• Outcome

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The three As of technology are not individually
enough

• Availability
• Affordability
• Accessibility

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A framework to use

• Compliance
• Experience
• Relationship
• Societal transformation

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Key factors

• the participation of the local Community is
  imperative to the inclusiveness of any digital
  community
• a hands-on coaching approach to the introduction
  of digital technologies into any community helps
  to ensure that the technology will be used in a
  meaningful and beneficial way by individuals in
  the community.

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• We are convinced that technology can play a major
  role in its resolution, and offer the following
  strategies for adoption and implementation by all
  governmental entities, industry and other stake
  holders

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Actions for local governments

• Encourage the explicit articulation of a digital
  inclusion strategy as part of municipal policy at
  local, as well as national level.
• Tie ITC investments to outcomes in the inclusion
  arena
• Undertake pilot projects which can sensitize the
  population to the benefits of inclusion in
  economic development, leveraging human capital
  and other local assets
• Carefully consider the role of privacy
  legislation in the deployment of connectivity and
  data use solutions, and craft strong leadership
  roles for local elected officials
• Consider legislative action that can mandate the
  reduction of procedural, distributional and
  outcome inequities in governmental service
  delivery, and build a strong case for the role of
  broadband wireless and other technology in
  promoting their elimination
• Begin to collect inclusion definitions and
  metrics and report inclusion metrics to highlight
  progress made, as well as identify the role of
  culture in differences that may persist

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Actions for industry

• Promote inclusion solutions in a targeted manner
• Develop information and analysis of the benefits
  of an inclusion policy surrounding the use of
  industry solutions by government
• Deploy and promote small scale, inexpensive and
  quick-to-market applications that impact many of
  the underprivileged

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Actions for W2i

• Consider a funding strategy (grants,
  sponsorships, contracts for service to industry)
  which would establish and operate a digital
  inclusion bibliography, a data base of best
  practices in inclusion and the creation of a
  statistical data base on the extent of broadband
  penetration and other relevant, needed statistics
• Announce the new category of Inclusion in the W2i
  awards program and find a sponsor whose funding
  would permit a major communications campaign
  around best of breed dissemination annually
• Begin to collect inclusion definitions and
  metrics in each host site of W2i events and
  report inclusion metrics to highlight progress
  made, as well as identify the role of culture in
  differences that may persist

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Can we hope for including Taipei?