Digitalisation and Inclusion

Illustration generated using DALL·E 2.

Let me in

If you’re one of those people that doesn’t like to be left out then a smartphone is an absolute must have. Take a look around the next time you go into town and try to spot someone that does NOT have their nose stuck to a screen. It doesn’t seem to matter what they are doing, walking along the pavement, sitting on the bus, having a coffee in a cafe, or even, naughty, naughty, riding a bike, everyone is glued to their phone.

Being present

So what are they doing, all these people? They’re not present in real life, so where are they actually present? The number of distractions available to the easily distracted are myriad. Endless social media platforms that provide a never ending stream of what purports to be entertainment.
Tiktok, YouTube, Pintrest, Snapchat, instagram and Facebook all vie for attention. Then there are the official news channels like CNN, Sky, BBC, Al Jazeera and so many more, and that is before we start to include news aggregators such as Clipboard and Reddit to name just two.
So if you’re not in, you’re out. But it’s not just about the social and news channels. So much of our everyday life is now dependent on having an internet connection. When did you last visit a bank, visit the offices of an insurance company or travel agent for example? Without even. Realising it our lives and everything we need to run them smoothly has moved online. But what about those members of society who do not have access to the technology so many of us and the institutions and organisations that serve us, now take for granted as a given?

No one left behind

Many are falling through the net. Without a positive online presence it can be difficult to get a job as this is often where potential employers run their character checks. No phone, no loan, as the whole process now seems to be automated and the decisions made by algorithms. And goodness knows how to pay a bill, get a credit card or even check you’ve been paid without going online. It’s fun for many, but a nightmare for many more, and it is surely up to governments to ensure nobody gets left behind as our world becomes more and more automated and increasingly lived online. Even those of you reading this article are the privileged, as those I am writing about lack the means to access it. We cannot afford a sub class of have nots, left behind by something that it would seem is more addictive than heroin.

Written by Ian Bowie