Elderly Forgotten? Digital Exclusion in the Information Age and the Rising Grey Digital Divide

Background: Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is being spread at an unprecedented rate across the globe. Yet, new research suggests that digital divide is not only continuing but also deepening at the same time. After access to basic ICT equipment, it is now the lack of skills and quality of hardware and software that leads to a continuing digital divide. Digital divide which is specifically related to elderly is known as grey digital divide. Objectives: The focus of this paper is to review and analyze recent relevant research on grey digital divide which is fast emerging as a major challenge in the era of ageing. A side objective is to raise implications for theory and practice discourses to minimize grey digital divide. Method: Literature on digital divide and grey digital divide is reviewed to gather relevant knowledge on the grey digital divide. The articles were filtered according to the relevance for grey digital divide in the present age. Literature review spanned over a 5 years’ timeline to discuss the current trends on the topic. Results: Results indicate a rising problem of ageing, mainly in developed countries. Grey digital divide constitutes a major challenge for elderly to participate and benefit from the digital revolution. Elderly face problems for basic tasks such as booking tickets or renewing bus cards to claiming old-age benefits because most of the systems are digitized. Another challenge is the social exclusion faced by elderly because they cannot connect with peers through digital networks due to lack of digital skills. This situation is also observed in developing countries, although in developing countries elderly get immediate help from family members due to the family system of joint living. Implications and future directions: A practical implication of this research can be a full-scale fieldwork in different countries of the world to further understand the grey digital divide. Joint collaboration between ICT and healthcare industry may result in revolutionizing of ergonomic ICT products and services which are elderly-friendly. It would be interesting to know how culture impacts grey digital divide across various countries.</p

A Racial Impact Analysis of HB 936: Accessibility of Electronic Textbooks

The economic and social consequences of the lack of access to technology for students in the Commonwealth of Virginia are real and significant. This report provides a legislative racial impact analysis of House Bill (HB) 936, a proposed bill in the Virginia General Assembly, prohibiting school boards from making electronic textbooks available for students, unless the school board adopts a plan to ensure that e-textbooks are available on or before July 1, 2017. The bill focuses solely on developing a plan for installing prior to implementing electronic textbooks in K-12 classrooms. Electronic textbooks are important as they offer updated content, ease of accessibility, multimedia features to enhance the learning experience, and the ability for educators to customize learning. Delegating this decision to each local school board in Virginia raises important potential racial implications, including the digital divide. Previous research suggests a correlation between the number of students receiving free and reduced lunch and the lack of availability of electronic textbooks. Districts with high rates of students on free and reduced lunch have a high population of minority students. This analysis provides maps that capture the trends on the probability of providing electronic textbooks for high minority areas across the state. The primary recommendation is to advance policy approaches that make electronic textbooks available to all K‐12 students in the Commonwealth of Virginia

Tech-driven transformation: Investigating digitalization dynamics across varying firm sizes

This research is financed by National Funds of the FCT—Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology within the project and, under the Scientific Employment Stimulus-Institutional Call CEECINST/00051/2018.The dynamic patterns of technology adoption among firms clustered by size are investigated to assess the implications arising from the digital divide. Using data from the “Survey on the Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Enterprises (IUTICE)" dataset for 2003-2022, provided by the Portuguese Institute of Statistics, the research centers on three key variables – internet connectivity, website presence, and computer usage – which are examined across a spectrum of firms’ scales, shedding light on the evolving trends in technology adoption. Employing a combination of descriptive statistical analysis, trend assessment, and cross-sectional comparisons, this research shows noteworthy insights. Interestingly, the adoption rates for all three technology variables exhibit a consistent upward trajectory, indicative of a movement towards digitalization within the business landscape. Smaller firms have demonstrated notable strides, manifesting a reduction in the technology adoption disparity relative to their larger counterparts. The findings underscore the influential roles played by resource constraints and digital competencies in shaping technology adoption trajectories, and their correspondence with the Resource-Based View (RBV) framework underscores the role of organizational resources and capabilities on the digital divide. The ramifications extend beyond individual firms, resonating with the global scholarly discourse and advocating for equitable integration of technology. As firms, irrespective of size, grapple with the challenges posed by the digital era, this study provides deep insights that can guide the formulation of strategies aimed at cultivating an inclusive and technologically empowered business environment.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Information Technology, Regime Stability and Democratic Meaningfulness: A Normative Evaluation of Present and Potential Trends

This inquiry explores the normative impact that the rise of Information Technology is having on society as viewed through the lenses of Social Choice and Democratic Theory. Information technology has drastically increased the amount of available information by increasing information about users, the flow of information to users and the flow of information between users through digital connectivity. This has resulted in a socially fragmenting “long tail” of media, a subversion of top-down institutions and has made for easier identification and mobilization of small and geographically dispersed groups. As understood through the Social Choice construct of multidimensionality, these trends have had both positive and negative normative implications for regime stability and democratic meaningfulness. The two negative normative effects of the rise of Information Technology are Rikerian meaninglessness and connectivity-driven regime instability. However, since these negative effects can be qualified or compensated for by the two positive impacts of democratic meaningfulness and stability-inducing pluralistic disequilibrium, this examination concludes that information technology has a positive net normative impact on society. If this is to continue to be the case, users and policy makers must be mindful of issues that could affect this balance, such as the digital divide and issues of diminishing digital privacy

Questioning the Generational Divide: Technological Exoticism and Adult Constructions of Online Youth Identity

Part of the Volume on Youth, Identity, and Digital Media. This chapter reflects on the effects and implications of the discrepancy between adult perspectives on digital media and youth experiences. Through an analysis of public discourse by marketers, journalists, and new media researchers compared with statements by young technology users, it is proposed that the current so-called "Internet generation" is in fact a transitional generation, in which young Internet users are characterized to varying degrees by a dual consciousness of both their own and adult perspectives, the latter of which tend to exoticize youth. An analogy with the first television generation is developed to suggest that the birth of a true Internet generation, some years in the future, will pave the way for more normalized, difficult-to-question changes in media attitudes and consumption, and thus that the present transitional moment should be taken advantage of to encourage conversation between adults and youth about technology and social change

Low cost air travel : social inclusion or social exclusion?

The low-cost revolution that has impacted upon North America, Western Europe, and, increasingly, other parts of the world, is, on initial examination, a development that has created opportunity for wider travel for all sectors of the community. This is certainly true in terms of price in that the impact of the emergence of low-cost carriers on major, generally short-haul, air routes has been to reduce headline prices significantly across all service providers. However, there are operating features within low-cost air travel which, notwithstanding price, may create barriers to access for some sections of the community. This article looks at the operating features of low-cost airlines and evaluates these in terms of social exclusion criteria. Based on an exploratory study of consumers in Glasgow, Scotland, the article concludes that access to low-cost airlines is considerably easier in both practical and perceptual terms for consumers with a flexible relationship to working and leisure time, and also access to the technology and financial systems required to avail of the best travel opportunities

Disability in a Technology-Driven Workplace

New Internet and Web-based technology applications have meant significant cost and time efficiencies to many American businesses. However, many employers have not yet fully grasped the impact of these new information and communication technologies on applicants and employees with certain disabilities such as vision impairments, hearing problems or limited dexterity. Although not all applicants and employees who have a disability may experience IT-access problems, to select groups it can pose a needless barrier. The increasing dominance of IT in the workplace presents both a challenge and an opportunity for workers with disabilities and their employers. It will be up to HR professionals to ensure that Web-based HR processes and workplace technologies are accessible to their employees with disabilities.