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

Disability: the struggle for inclusion in a digital society

In an increasingly digital society, citizens denied access to digital ways of working, are experiencing a double exclusion. Struggling for access to information and welfare services which are moving to ‘digital-by-default’ design and delivery, they are also facing barriers to participation within a public sphere where the platforms for discussion and debate are predominantly digital in nature. Current research highlights potential links between social exclusion and the potential for digital exclusion (Van Dijk 2005, Lane-Fox 2010). One consequence of this is the way in which social workers are finding they are experiencing both sides of a digital divide (Steyaert and Gould 2009). On the one hand, practitioners are working with increasingly digital information and communication systems, while on the other, informed by the principles of human rights and social justice, their daily case load will involves issues of digital exclusion, in particular where service users find themselves denied access to mainstream ‘digital-by-default’ welfare and public services (Rafferty and Steyaert 2007, Watling 2011). If social work students are to be equipped for 21st century professional practice, it will be necessary for social work educators to ensure digital literacies are an essential component of their graduate attributes. The University of Lincoln in the UK has put in place measures to ensure its social work graduates develop the necessary confidence and competencies essential for a digital age. Using a combination of virtual learning alongside face-to-face lectures and seminars, students engage with digital resources designed to enhance their work within digital environments, as well as having opportunities to apply this knowledge to their placement and professional practice. This presentation will raise awareness of the realities of digital exclusion, in particular for service-users struggling to achieve inclusion and equal participation in an increasingly digital world. It will show how barriers to digital access can be disabling and suggest digital disability has implications for social work education and practice. As well as offering solutions from the experience of educators on the social work degree at the University of Lincoln, the presentation will provide timely opportunities for initiating future discussion on what is fast becoming a new category of 21st century marginalisation, disadvantage and disempowerment

Digitalization in the regional context: the case of e-government services in Latvia

This article examines problems of the digital trends in economies and societies from two perspectives: the extension of a digital economy to social dimensions, and the role of digital government services in regional cohesion perspectives in Latvia. This methodological approach could serve as a tool for integrating a number of main goals related to the digitalisation trends in the EU, that require support of societies as well as the improvement of social welfare at the regional and national levels. The contribution aims to offer insight into the concept of social investment and innovation as well as co-creation concept and the impact of digitalisation of public services on regional cohesion. The study observes these implications in relation to the need to expand and adapt the content and approach of the digital services implementation. The further digital development as a precondition for diminishing regional and well being divide, facilitating administrative processes for people and entrepreneurs, as well as e-services availability in Latvia is discussed. The article concluded that efficient decision-making related to social investment and innovation for improving social welfare at regional and national levels needs implementation of digitalised services in a wider scale as they inevitably become more important due to the increased digital competitiveness of countries.This research article has been supported by the European Union's Horizon-2020 research and innovation programme under the Grant agreement 726755

Digital single market conducive to the promotion of social dialogue and social investment in the regional cohesion context

This research paper has been supported by the European Union's Horizon-2020 research and innovation programme under the Grant agreement 726755.This article examines problems of the digital single market from two perspectives: the extension of a digital economy beyond capital, goods and services to other areas of the economy including labour markets, social dialogue and social dimensions, and from the role of digital government services in regional cohesion perspectives in Latvia. This methodological approach could serve as a tool for integrating a number of main goals related to the Digital Single Market (DSM), that require support of societies as well as the improvement of social welfare at the regional and national levels. This contribution aims to offer insight into the concept of social dialogue (SD) in DSM and the impact of the DSM on regional cohesion. The study observes these implications in relation to the need to expand and adapt the content and approach of the DSM implementation. The further digital development as a precondition for diminishing regional and wellbeing divide in Latvia is discussed. The role of electronic government services and social investment is examined based on the qualitative interviews among users of Unified state and municipal customer service centres (CSC) in Latvia. The article provides recommendations to social partners for DSM regulatory system of decision-making as well as social investment for improving social welfare at regional and national levels. It is concluded that the digitalization and implementation of SDM have inevitably become more important due to the increased digital competitiveness of countries.H2020 CITADEL project "Empowering Citizens to Transform European Public Administration" (Grant agreement No 726755

Managing ubiquitous eco cities: the role of urban telecommunication infrastructure networks and convergence technologies

A successful urban management system for a Ubiquitous Eco City requires an integrated approach. This integration includes bringing together economic, socio-cultural and urban development with a well orchestrated, transparent and open decision making mechanism and necessary infrastructure and technologies. Rapidly developing information and telecommunication technologies and their platforms in the late 20th Century improves urban management and enhances the quality of life and place. Telecommunication technologies provide an important base for monitoring and managing activities over wired, wireless or fibre-optic networks. Particularly technology convergence creates new ways in which the information and telecommunication technologies are used. The 21st Century is an era where information has converged, in which people are able to access a variety of services, including internet and location based services, through multi-functional devices such as mobile phones and provides opportunities in the management of Ubiquitous Eco Cities. This paper discusses the recent developments in telecommunication networks and trends in convergence technologies and their implications on the management of Ubiquitous Eco Cities and how this technological shift is likely to be beneficial in improving the quality of life and place. The paper also introduces recent approaches on urban management systems, such as intelligent urban management systems, that are suitable for Ubiquitous Eco Cities

Enhanced broadband access as a solution to the social and economic problems of the rural digital divide

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The effect of welfare reform and technological change on unemployment

Unemployment has fallen to its lowest level in a generation. Some welcome this development because they believe it increases the average person's ability to achieve the American dream. Others view low unemployment as a precursor to dire economic consequences. Jason Saving examines the issue of unemployment and reaches three main conclusions. First, welfare reform can significantly reduce unemployment, and the empirical evidence to date suggests the recent American welfare reform effort has caused hundreds of thousands of Americans to leave the welfare rolls and enter the labor force. Second, welfare reform can increase the official unemployment rate, but it cannot increase the number of people who are out of work. Finally, technological change can help low-skilled or disabled individuals become productive members of the labor force, and there is reason to believe it has done so during the 1990s.

Hot-wiring community

ABSTRACT In response to the \u27digital divide\u27, national and local governments in the UK, the US and Australia have embarked on various initiatives designed to promote the use of computer networks in low-income communities. These initiatives involve common models of self-help and mutual obligation; the pattern is one where government provides seed funding to encourage public-private partnerships between disadvantaged communities, businesses, philanthropists and universities. Together they rig up a solution to information poverty, giving people access to information technologies in their homes. The idea is that people will be better able to share resources, find work, acquire qualifications, help themselves and trust one another. Already, however, the reality has fallen short of expectations. It taken a long time for technical experimentation to find success; often, meanwhile, the public-private partnership model has broken down. More importantly for broader social policy discussion, there is a prevailing confusion about whether the focus should be on employment, education and training outcomes, or on more diffuse ideas about social cohesion. This paper reviews international examples of success and failure in building wired communities, putting the case for a stronger focus on selfeducation, informal learning and employment outcomes rather than on community-building and social cohesion