Digital exclusion — A new approach is needed

This article is written by Paul Waller, Visiting Fellow, University of Bradford and Research Principal, Thorney Isle Research.

• The problem: The good work so far hasn’t solved digital exclusion over 20 years of trying.
• Why it matters: It is a man-made problem entwined with social exclusion.
• The solution: We need to reframe the problem to help address people’s fundamental life challenges.

There have been countless surveys, reports, policies and initiatives relating to ‘digital exclusion’ over the last 20 years, mostly rehearsing the same statistics and arguments and producing broadly similar recommendations for action. Most proposed solutions have been technology-driven (providing kit, connections, training, etc.), but they have not fundamentally solved the problem, as Ofcom statistics show. This is a strong indicator that the received wisdom is missing the point and that the problem needs to be reframed. This is not to disparage the efforts of charities such as the notable Good Things Foundation and Age UK, and local authorities that remain important and valuable.

The internet provides a capability for acquiring resources, the lack of which exacerbates poverty and other real-life problems, particularly those linked to social exclusion.

The nature and cause of digital exclusion

There are two key factors relating to digital exclusion that are not always recognised. The first is that social exclusion and digital exclusion are highly correlated. The second is that digital exclusion is a result of active design choices: it is a man-made problem. There is a need to rethink approaches to it in light of these, especially by public sector bodies.

Social exclusion and digital exclusion

The internet provides a capability for acquiring resources, the lack of which exacerbates poverty and other real-life problems, particularly those linked to social exclusion.

“The groups that already accumulate several socioeconomic and digital advantages are the ones with considerably higher chances to enjoy the benefits of online services, thus perpetuating the rich-get-richer circle of inequalities.” (Dodel, 2016)

The pandemic unfortunately provided a natural experiment on the effects of digital exclusion for socially disadvantaged groups and has provided material for researchers. In 2021 the University of Bradford looked at the impact of the pandemic on vulnerable, marginalised and excluded groups from the angle of how the movement online of many commercial and public services (including health) affected them. Civil society organisations supporting those groups gave horrifying evidence of the impacts and the consequent increased risk of serious illness and death.

Business models and design choices

The phenomenon of ‘digital exclusion’ is a consequence of deliberate design choices, either within commercial business models or within public policy and its administration. Design choices have negative consequences when they exclude people who may wish to use, or are required to use, such information and processes but cannot or will not. Usually, the cost of remedying these consequences falls outside the body making the design decision, for example, on charities. Therefore, it continues to make these choices while it avoids the cost of such externalities. Any business cases are likely to omit them in their financial assessments.

Typically, the internet is now taken as the preferred medium for providing information and executing processes: operational models are constructed on that foundation. The commercial sector is often quite happy to market to the portion of the population that is online. Subject to general legislation (on equalities, data protection, etc.) this is legitimate but is now revealing the problems for many people trying to do everyday life tasks, such as banking and parking.

Access online to all relevant government and public administrative information, e.g. what licences a business needs or what benefits someone can claim, is hugely convenient, as is making applications, receiving licences or paying fees through online transactions. On the public sector side, automating many transactions and speeding up and simplifying the publication of information, and sometimes the streamlining of processes, has improved the operations of many public bodies.

However, all this requires that the population of individuals and businesses affected by any policy implementation are competent users of the internet. The Ombudsman is clear on what constitutes good public administration and the Rule of Law implies equality before the law: the design of public administrative processes must ensure full access by all those affected. This is not the case for all governments’ web-based processes, adding to the digital exclusion problem rather than addressing it.

Reframing the problem and solutions

Government, local government, industry and charities have for over 20 years funded many initiatives to help people use the internet. While undoubtedly having an effect, measurement of impact and outcomes has been patchy, to say the least, but statistics continue to show millions of digitally excluded people.

Between 2006 and 2011, the local authority-based Digital Inclusion Team developed projects with front-line public functions dealing with socially excluded groups to innovatively use simple digital technology to tackle challenges facing their target population. This work showed that it was possible to make a positive difference to the lives and life chances of the people involved. It also showed that commercial entities can be a key partner in creating solutions to real problems but do not have the remit or knowledge to define and lead social interventions.

Consequently, policymaking needs to come at this issue from the other end: identifying real needs in particular groups and communities and finding the technologies to help them as opposed to fixating on internet usage. That entails interventions to support taking groups out of poverty and social exclusion by addressing their specific issues, using the power of all sorts of technology as appropriate, thereby bringing them to a position where they may engage more fully with the digital world. In practical terms, that is likely to involve collaborative actions between local public bodies (local authorities, health, probation, police, etc.), civil society and businesses, supported by funding and other resources.

Government itself must reframe the thinking about digital government from its default assumption of transactions and information on the web to policy thinking that is inclusive while making the best use of technology (Fishenden, 2023).

Conclusion

To address digital exclusion, the adoption of exclusionary digital design must be challenged or prohibited where appropriate, and public sector interventions need to focus on addressing the primary causes of social exclusion with a secondary aim of improving the capability to use the internet in the process where possible and appropriate — not the other way round.

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