Social housing and digital exclusion

This report by the National Housing Federation Futures Project analyses the concept of digital exclusion, its effects, the role of housing associations in tackling its consequences and possible interventions that may arise

Social Deprivation and Digital Exclusion in England

Issues of digital exclusion are now increasingly considered alongside those of material deprivation when formulating interventions in neighbourhood renewal and other local policy interventions in health, policing and education. In this context, this paper develops a cross classification of material deprivation and lack of digital engagement, at a far more spatially disaggregate level than has previously been attempted. This is achieved my matching the well known 2004 Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) with a unique nationwide geodemographic classification of access and use of new information and communications technologies (ICTs), aggregated to the unit postcode scale. This ‘E-Society’ classification makes it possible for the first time to identify small areas that are ‘digitally unengaged’, and our cross classification allows us to focus upon the extent to which the 2004 summary measure of material deprivation in England coincides with such lack of engagement. The results of the cross classification suggest that lack of digital engagement and material deprivation are linked, with high levels of material deprivation generally associated with low levels of engagement with ICTs and vice versa. However, some neighbourhoods are ‘digitally unengaged’ but not materially deprived, and we investigate the extent to which this outcome may be linked to factors such as lack of confidence, skills or motivation. Our analysis suggests that approximately 5.61 million people in England are both materially deprived and digitally unengaged. As with material deprivation, there are distinctive regional and local geographies to digital unengagement that have implications for digital policy implementation

Digital exclusion: potential implications for social work education

QAA Subject Benchmark 5.9 requires social work students to demonstrate the ability to have a critical understanding of the social impact of ICT, including an awareness of the impact of the 'digital divide'. In the twenty-first century, the implications of digital exclusion may become increasingly relevant for the social work profession with its values of empowerment and anti-oppressive practices. As governments and organisations move closer to the provision of online services, the social worker may find themselves addressing the disempowerment of service users and carers disconnected from a virtual welfare state. The concern is that Benchmark 5.9 does not go far enough, that the full significance of this requirement may not be sufficiently realised and a greater awareness urgently called for

Digital exclusion in later life : a Maltese case-study

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are driving profound changes in the way in which individuals, organizations and governments interact. In particular, the internet has been a major force behind the development towards a more globalized, knowledge-based economy. However, in terms of computer access and internet usage, a digital divide between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ has long been recognized. One key sector of non-users consists of older persons. For various reasons – including no exposure to computers over their lifetime and in their occupations, income levels, physical disability and access to affordable ICT training – only limited percentages of older people have adequate ICT skills. A growing concern is that older adults who do not engage with ICTs face social disadvantages and exclusion. This article reports upon a qualitative study on older non-users of ICTs, with its key goal being to understand what leads to, and the effects of, digital exclusion in later life. Results found that older persons who never made use of ICTs were significantly delineated by gender and socio-economic status patterns - namely, women (especially housewives, who had never been in paid employment), individuals who worked in blue-collar and working-class occupations, and the long-term unemployed. Data also demonstrated that access was not the main issue at hand, and that the failure of older adults to become digital citizens was the result of a continuum of overlapping barriers. This study provided information highlighting the rationales and motivations underlying individuals’ non-use of computers - namely, believing that they were now ‘too old’ to use new technologies, a lack of relevance or ‘life-fit’ of computers, perceived non-usefulness and difficulty to use, anxiety about computer usage, concern about security and privacy issues, and the facing of disability issues.N/

‘Digital by Default’ and the ‘hard to reach’ : Exploring solutions to digital exclusion in remote rural areas

The research reported here is supported by the award made by the RCUK Digital Economy programme to the dot.rural Digital Economy Hub [award reference: EP/G066051/1].Peer reviewe

Comprehending the Digital Disparities in Africa

The digital divide has a significant impact on the ways in which information across Africa is developed, shared, and perceived. This opening chapter seeks to analyse the problems and opportunities associated with the ubiquitous digital revolution, providing a cross-disciplinary examination of digital disparities inhibiting social, political, and economic progress across Africa. It also attempts to conceptualise the digital divide in an African setting. It will introduce some of the main concepts associated with the digital divide and analyse them from an African perspective. The chapter also provides specific examples of how various countries in Africa are dealing with problems associated with the digital exclusion of their citizens. This contribution also provides the justification, aims, and objectives of the book before ending with chapter summaries of the collection

These Walls Can Talk! Securing Digital Privacy in the Smart Home Under the Fourth Amendment

Privacy law in the United States has not kept pace with the realities of technological development, nor the growing reliance on the Internet of Things (IoT). As of now, the law has not adequately secured the “smart” home from intrusion by the state, and the Supreme Court further eroded digital privacy by conflating the common law concepts of trespass and exclusion in United States v. Jones. This article argues that the Court must correct this misstep by explicitly recognizing the method by which the Founding Fathers sought to “secure” houses and effects under the Fourth Amendment. Namely, the Court must reject its overly narrow trespass approach in lieu of the more appropriate right to exclude. This will better account for twenty-first century surveillance capabilities and properly constrain the state. Moreover, an exclusion framework will bolster the reasonable expectation of digital privacy by presuming an objective unreasonableness in any warrantless penetration by the state into the smart home

Digital exclusion: coming out from behind closed doors

Government visions of a digital future show little indication of how disabled people, reliant on access technology, will participate. Access technology has the potential to offer independent use of the Internet but many disabled people already face barriers that prevent them having equitable digital experiences. Multiple obstacles include high set-up costs, inadequate technical support and exclusive design practices. Due to the high levels of personalisation required, many disabled people are restricted to using computers at home. As a result their problems with access often remain unacknowledged and hidden behind closed doors. As online governance of welfare gathers pace, so greater awareness of the diversity of ways in which disabled people interact with digital environments is called for. Without this, government expansion into digital-only welfare risks isolating even further those who have the most to gain