With the ever-increasing pace of technology innovation and rapid digital transformation of society, the impact on digital inclusion, and particularly gender equity is surprisingly under-analyzed. The article outlines and classifies the concept of digital inclusion and its effects on traditionally marginalized groups, specifically, girls and women. In doing so, the article reviews existing literature on digital inclusion and answers a core research question: What are some of the underlying monitoring indicators for monitoring and measuring the state of digital inclusion and digital gender divide identified in the academic literature to date? Based on a scoping review, an initial 8,527 documents published between 1951 and January 2021, were identified as having some relevance to the digital inclusion of marginalized communities. Our analysis found that 208 publications include gender. Of the 208 publications, 116 publications (56%) were excluded as they focused mainly on technology use in healthcare provision and assisted living for adults and the elderly rather than digital inclusion and gender. The remaining 92 publications (44%) covered gender relating to the digital inclusion of men and women, boys and girls, and the digital gender divide. Our review finds that the effects of digital inclusion on the traditionally marginalized particularly gender continues to be under-analyzed. The bulk of research recognized the digital inclusion of girls and women as important but do not go into great detail on the underlying causes or impacts. We find that most gender-specific literature on digital inclusion is on developed economies in the northern hemisphere. We also observed a lack of user and geographical segmentation when it comes to gender, the location, and socio-economic context of the digitally excluded. In conclusion, there is an urgent need for a more in-depth analysis of the drivers of gender-specific digital inclusion and barriers resulting in exclusion, particularly so in emerging economies.

Abstract:The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to the ever alarming constraints

Purpose: The reoccurrence of loss in revenue generation from the oil industry which is due to the unstable and heated relationship between oil corporations and host communities in the Niger Delta (ND) region of Nigeria has spurred the strategic social permission of oil multinational corporations (OMNCs) to operate in the country. Thus, OMNCs have continually given attention to the challenges faced by the region through community development in terms of initiatives and projects. Community development (CD) and sustainability are core to viable social responsibility (SR) whether from the part of government or from OMNCs. However, since the independence of the country in 1960, a lot of development agencies and commissions have been established by the government towards social and infrastructural development in the ND region. These agencies and commissions often combine efforts with OMNCs to enforce development and sustainability in the region which consequently result in mutual benefits on both ends. The purpose of this paper is to critically examine CD and sustainability of host communities in the ND by evaluating initiatives conducted by government development agencies such as the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and OMNCs such as ExxonMobil and Shell Petroleum Development Commission (SPDC) in the region.Approach/Design/Methodology: The paper applied a qualitative research approach. It conceptualises CD and sustainability and examines the views of community members on initiatives from the NDDC and OMNCs. Instruments for primary data collection were the Focus Group Discussion, In-depth Interviews (IDIs) and observation. The research made use of thirty IDIs and five FGDs. Secondary sources of data were journal articles, reports and other documents from both the OMNCs and NDDC. It also made use of the Nvivo11 software to organise the data while a content-based analysis was used to set data into themes. The study puts into consideration the perspectives of different community members as well as the various concepts which exist in the literature.Findings: Analysis reveals that there is positive impact when development takes place in host communities and sustainability attained but consequently, there are no probable and visible improvement of the OMNCs operations and business in the region, which is why there is reoccurrence of revenue loss in the country from the oil sector.Value/Originality: This paper gives voice to participants in a social setting by highlighting the importance of CD and sustainability in the ND region. It does this by looking into the different initiatives conducted by the NDDC, ExxonMobile and SPDC.