Digital inclusion and user (dis)empowerment: a critical perspective

Abstract

Emerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services. Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation.

Exclusions in social inclusion projects: Struggles in involving children in digital technology development

“…Children's participation in digital technology development has intrigued researchers within the Human‐Computer Interaction community for decades (Druin, ). In recent years, it has become apparent that we need to provide children not only with in‐depth knowledge of digital technology use but also development skills, ie, to concretely design, make, and build digital technology (Blikstein, ; Cornwall & Gaventa, ; Heeley & Damodaran, ; Mariën & Prodnik, ). Researchers in the field of Information Systems (IS) have addressed a wide range of related topics.…”

“…As regards the development skills, moreover, it is not only the computational aspects that are significant but also the design of and innovation in and with digital technology (Bekker, Bakker, Douma, van der Poel, & Scheltenaar, ; Blikstein, ; Smith, Iversen, & Hjorth, ). Overall, digital technology education should empower children to make and shape digital technology to suit their purposes and interests (Blikstein, ; Cornwall & Gaventa, ; Heeley & Damodaran, ; Mariën & Prodnik, ). IS research should take children, along with their digital technology skills and competencies, into the focus of its study, as children will form the future IS workforce (Clayton, Beekhuyzen, & Nielsen, ; Iivari, Molin‐Juustila, & Kinnula, ).…”

Without libraries what have we?

“…This would necessitate microlevel approaches that engage various kinds of stakeholder groups and individuals. We agree that these hands-on, grassroots approaches are necessary; however, as Mariën and Prodnik [33] argue, these micro-level approaches are not unproblematic:…”

“…(…) It is especially difficult for usersand even groups of users -to go against the logic under which the Internet has developed in the recent decades. [33].…”

“…A truly sustainable approach to digital inclusion, then, should also address the macro, meso and micro level, with the objective of harmonizing them. Thus, designers should strive for scalable actions that take their cue from inclusive public policy that would strive for the digital inclusion of all, including "the low-educated, the non-motivated, the low-skilled and the non-users" [33] and to go beyond the often ad-hoc character of user-centric bottom-up approaches. This, then, should be the guideline not only for public policy but also for design activities.…”