This Friday, from 2 to 5 pm, we will have an open discussion about the past and future of ICT related social policies in the UK.
The aim of this meeting is to outline an analysis of media and technological policies based on changing digital participation agendas in the previous and current governments, in addition to considering strategic policy proposals for the white paper informing Jeremy Hunt’s proposed Communications Act.
We plan to introduce the Media Policy Project, address key digital inclusion issues in UK policy and research, identify research trends and open up discussion regarding digital inclusion and accountability.
As a conversation starter a short brief on the history of digital inclusion and ICT policies in the UK is presented in which the evidence for effective policy making is discussed.
Three key questions are:
- What can and should be done beyond improving ICT access and infrastructure to promote inclusion?
- What are the roles and responsibilities of government, the commercial and the third sector in promoting digital inclusion?
- Who should be held accountabile for digital exclusion?
A loose outline for the discussion paper is as follows:
This paper revises the evidence that sheds light on the possible effectiveness and impact of the UK’s ICT policies, such as the Universal Service Commitment and the Cabinet Office’s ICT strategy. The paper questions whether digital inclusion, an important term in previous government initiatives and in the current government’s election promises, will feature as part of government responsibilities. The role of digital inclusion in the current government’s political agenda is otherwise unclear.
The paper addresses two separate issues that play a role in the evaluation of the possible impacts of Universal Service Commitment (USC) and other digital inclusion policies:
- (dis)continuity of policy in this area
- (mis)representation of the evidence for impact
The UK was at the forefront of policy making in the digital inclusion arena and many EU policies looked to the UK as an example of best practice. Nevertheless, Europe seems to be taking evidence-based policy making forward by focusing on the social as well as the infrastructure aspects of digital inclusion. In contrast, the UK is regressing by relying on the market and on business as a driver of inclusion – a strategy that has proven to be insufficient in the past.
The argument set out in the discussion paper is that a narrow focus on speed and infrastructure means a step back for UK policy in this area.
Years of research have shown that access to the internet in itself, no matter the speed of the connection or the ubiquity of access points, does not solve inequalities in how people make use of the opportunities available online. The evidence shows that in some areas a digital under class has emerged composed of socially isolated individuals with lower levels of education, who may become further entrenched in a digital underclass if policy remains narrowly focussed on access.
The discussion of impact will address the research evidence which shows that infrastructure interventions are likely to be insufficient in dealing with issues of digital exclusion. Policies that focus on access and infrastructure and ignore underlying social inequalities have led to the consolodation of a group of people who are disadvantaged in terms of their digital skills and how they use the internet and for whom it will become harder and harder to reconnect with the rest of society.
If you’re interested in participating or would like to share in the discussion, send an email to Zoe Sujon at Z.T.Sujon at lse.ac.uk
Rubbish. Once everyone has access to a fit for purpose connection then the digital economy will thrive and people will use it. Far too many still can’t get online and its about time researchers realised this. Also millions have such a useless connection it puts them and more off using it. Also the use of mobiles is cutting down land line ownership and therefore the chance to get online through the copper. Mobile can’t deliver much data, so we are starting to go backwards. A gig a month doesn’t go very far really… and not many can afford more. Its time to get real, and break the copper cabal that is throttling this country. If you recommend ignoring it then you are as bad as them. sorry to sound so grumpy, but after a day listening off and on to the #nd11 conference and all the brave new world theories about what we can do when we get everyone online I am a bit fed up with people who can’t see the rotten state of our infrastructure. There is no point in getting someone online in an online centre unless they can use that connection at home.
I am stopping now.
the end
chris
Chris, I don’t think we completely disagree. For example, I couldn’t agree more with your observations about the state of the infrastructure in the UK. The speeds, reach and variety of connections are lacking, way way behind what they should be. If this problem is not solved then there cannot really be a discussion about the other aspects of digital inclusion. Government and business involvement is needed to solve this asap, and by involvement I mean investment and long term planning that encompasses the whole of the UK not just those areas that are already more or less connected or where the market is likely to solve these issues. I also agree with you that home access or personal, private access is of the utmost importance if we want to solve issues of digital exclusion.
However, I disagree with you that “Once everyone has access to a fit for purpose connection then the digital economy will thrive and people will use it”. This is just not borne out by the evidence about what happens when people get home access or get access to a high speed connection in a convenient location and platform. Socio-economic and other inequalities continue to exist in the extent to which people take advantage of these connections even after they have acquired a good connection. In countries like Sweden and the Netherlands where high speed connections are wide(r) spread, things like a persons educational background, age, gender and occupation still make a difference in tems of literacy and in how people engage with the technology. Assuming that this is a purely technological or infrastructure issue is dangerous because in a few years time, if we can get the infrastructure sorted, we will probably find that groups of people have fallen further behind and are not able to take up the services that are now ‘digital by default’. I am however not convinced that the solution to this is an ICT policy, a more effective approach is probably to integrate technologies in our social and educational policies.