Internet on the Outstation provides a new take on the digital divide. Why do whole communities choose to go without the internet when the infrastructure for access is in place? Through an in-depth exploration of the digital practices occurring in Aboriginal households in remote central Australia, the authors address both the dynamics of internet adoption and the benefits that flow from its use. The book challenges us to think beyond the standard explanations for the digital divide, arguing that digital exclusion is not just another symptom of social exclusion. At its heart, Internet on the Outstation is a compelling examination of equality and difference in the digital age, asking: Can internet access help resolve the disadvantages associated with remote living?Internet on the Outstation is the result of a multi-year research collaboration, which included a trial of internet infrastructure, training and maintenance in three small Aboriginal communities (known as outstations). During the research phase, Ellie Rennie, Eleanor Hogan and Julian Thomas were based at the Swinburne Institute for Social Research in Melbourne. Robin Gregory and Andrew Crouch worked at the Centre for Appropriate Technology, an Indigenous-owned research and training organization in Alice Springs. Alyson Wright worked for the Central Land Council, the representative body for traditional owners of the central Australia region.
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Purpose: This paper aims to present the findings from a European study on the digital skills gaps in tourism and hospitality companies. Design/methodology/approach: Mixed methods research was adopted. The sample includes 1,668 respondents (1,404 survey respondents and 264 interviewees) in 5 tourism sectors (accommodation establishments, tour operators and travel agents, food and beverage, visitor attractions and destination management organisations) in 8 European countries (UK, Italy, Ireland, Spain, Hungary, Germany, the Netherlands and Bulgaria). Findings: The most important future digital skills include online marketing and communication skills, social media skills, MS Office skills, operating systems use skills and skills to monitor online reviews. The largest gaps between the current and the future skill levels were identified for artificial intelligence and robotics skills and augmented reality and virtual reality skills, but these skills, together with computer programming skills, were considered also as the least important digital skills. Three clusters were identified on the basis of their reported gaps between the current level and the future needs of digital skills. The country of registration, sector and size shape respondents’ answers regarding the current and future skills levels and the skills gap between them. Originality/value: The paper discusses the digital skills gap of tourism and hospitality employees and identifies the most important digital skills they would need in the future.
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BackgroundPeople from lower and middle socioeconomic classes and vulnerable populations are among the worst affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, thus exacerbating disparities and the digital divide.ObjectiveTo draw a portrait of e-services as a digital approach to support digital health literacy in vulnerable populations amid the COVID-19 infodemic, and identify the barriers and facilitators for their implementation.MethodsA scoping review was performed to gather published literature with a broad range of study designs and grey literature without exclusions based on country of publication. A search was created in Medline (Ovid) in March 2021 and translated to Medline, PsycINFO, Scopus and CINAHL with Full Text (EBSCOhost). The combined literature search generated 819 manuscripts. To be included, manuscripts had to be written in English, and present information on digital intervention(s) (e.g. social media) used to enable or increase digital health literacy among vulnerable populations during the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g. older adults, Indigenous people living on reserve).ResultsFive articles were included in the study. Various digital health literacy-enabling e-services have been implemented in different vulnerable populations. Identified e-services aimed to increase disease knowledge, digital health literacy and social media usage, help in coping with changes in routines and practices, decrease fear and anxiety, increase digital knowledge and skills, decrease health literacy barriers and increase technology acceptance in specific groups. Many facilitators of digital health literacy-enabling e-services implementation were identified in expectant mothers and their families, older adults and people with low-income. Barriers such as low literacy limited to no knowledge about the viruses, medium of contamination, treatment options played an important role in distracting and believing in misinformation and disinformation. Poor health literacy was the only barrier found, which may hinder the understanding of individual health needs, illness processes and treatments for people with HIV/AIDS.ConclusionsThe literature on the topic is scarce, sparse and immature. We did not find any literature on digital health literacy in Indigenous people, though we targeted this vulnerable population. Although only a few papers were included, two types of health conditions were covered by the literature on digital health literacy-enabling e-services, namely chronic conditions and conditions that are new to the patients. Digital health literacy can help improve prevention and adherence to a healthy lifestyle, improve capacity building and enable users to take the best advantage of the options available, thus strengthening the patient’s involvement in health decisions and empowerment, and finally improving health outcomes. Therefore, there is an urgent need to pursue research on digital health literacy and develop digital platforms to help solve current and future COVID-19-related health needs.
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Social Media lijken, bij uitstek, media om te inspireren en te innoveren. Echter, in de eerste plaats zijn Social Media als Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Hyves en LinkedIn geschikt voor het onderhouden van relaties. De conversatie staat centraal. Politici kunnen zich open stellen voor dialoog met de burger. Des te meer reden om te onderzoeken in hoeverre Social Media impact hebben gehad op de verkiezingen van 2 maart 2011 in Overijssel. Dit is de derde in een reeks van onderzoeksrapportages van het onderzoek Social Media en verkiezingen van het lectoraat Media Technology Design van Saxion. Het betreft een longitudinaal onderzoek naar trends in Social Media en politiek, scenario’s van het mogelijke gebruik van Social Media in de politiek en de impact hiervan op de uitslagen van gemeenteraads-,Provinciale Staten- en Tweede Kamerverkiezingen. Voor dit onderzoek is de volgende onderzoeksvraag geformuleerd: “In welke mate is er (significante) invloed waarneembaar van het (actieve) gebruik van Social Media door verkiezingskandidaten op de hoeveelheid stemmen die een politieke kandidaat tijdens de Provinciale Statenverkiezingen in Overijssel krijgt”? De provinciale politici hebben in de aanloop naar de verkiezingen van 2 maart relatief weinig gebruik gemaakt van Social Media. Vergeleken met de Tweede Kamer verkiezingen zijn de SMI scores ontzettend laag te noemen. Op basis van deze meting is het niet duidelijk welke invloed of relatie uitgaat van Social Media. Er zijn geen significante verbanden gevonden. Er zijn over het algemeen weinig actieve Social Media gebruikers onder de kandidaten voor de provinciale staten in Overijssel. Aangezien tal van invloedsfactoren meespelen voor het behalen van voorkeurstemmen kunnen we niet zeggen of de politici die wel een relatief hoge SMI hebben ook daar voordeel van hebben gehad. Daarvoor hadden er in deze dataset meer actieve Social Media gebruikers moeten zijn. Kortom: de Social Media participatie is erg laag geweest bij deze verkiezingen. Daardoor heeft Social Media waarschijnlijk nauwelijks invloed gehad op de uitslag van de verkiezingen. Het geeft te denken dat volksvertegenwoordigers in de huidige samenleving zo weinig toegankelijk en actief zijn op Social Media.
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Ict is vrouwenwerk. Je krijgt geen vuile handen en je hoeft er de deur niet voor uit. De omgekeerde wereld? Niet in Maleisië. Vrouwen zijn daar goed vertegenwoordigd in de ict-sector en driekwart van de ict-studenten is vrouw. Dat zijn cijfers waar wij hier alleen van kunnen dromen. Maar het is geen rozengeur en maneschijn. Vrouwen in Maleisië hebben, ook in de ict, een achtergestelde positie. De strijd voor gendergelijkheid in de ict is universeel. Dat bleek tijdens het internationale congres 'Research on Women in ICT' in Kuala Lumpur. Een feest van herkenning in een wereld van verschil.
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Dit artikel gaat in op de zogenaamde digitale kloof en beschrijft hoe met de verandering van die digitale kloof ook de bijhorende sociale interventies moeten wijzigen.
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Digital transport eco-systems worldwide provide great advantages to many but also carry a risk of excluding population groups that struggle with accessing or using digital products and services. The DIGNITY project (DIGital traNsport In and for socieTY) delves into the development of such eco-systems to deepen the understanding of the full range of factors that lead to disparities in the uptake of digital transport solutions in Europe. A starting point for developing digitally inclusive transport systems is to obtain state-of-the-art knowledge and understanding of where local transport eco-systems are in relation to the digital gap and digital mobility gap in terms of their policies, transport products and services, and population digital literacy. This chapter presents the methodology developed in the DIGNITY project to frame this digital gap, incorporating a self-assessment framework that may be used by public authorities to identify potential gaps in the development of local digital transport eco-systems. This framework is informed by results from customer journey mapping exercises that provide insights into the daily activities and trips of users, and larger scale surveys on digital technology access, use, attitudes and competence in the area. In the DIGNITY approach as a whole, the results from the framing phase are then used to inform subsequent work on bridging the digital gap through the co-creation of more inclusive policies, products and services. The chapter provides concrete results from the framing exercise in four DIGNITY pilot areas: Barcelona, Tilburg, Flanders and Ancona. The results clearly show that a digital transport gap exists in these areas, and that this is manifested in different ways in different local situations, requiring tailored approaches to address the gap.
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Aim: There is often a gap between the ideal of involving older persons iteratively throughout the design process of digital technology, and actual practice. Until now, the lens of ageism has not been applied to address this gap. The goals of this study were: to voice the perspectives and experiences of older persons who participated in co-designing regarding the design process; their perceived role in co-designing and intergenerational interaction with the designers; and apparent manifestations of ageism that potentially influence the design of digital technology. Methods: Twenty-one older persons participated in three focus groups. Five themes were identified using thematic analysis which combined a critical ageism ‘lens’ deductive approach and an inductive approach. Results: Ageism was experienced by participants in their daily lives and interactions with the designers during the design process. Negative images of ageing were pointed out as a potential influencing factor on design decisions. Nevertheless, positive experiences of inclusive design pointed out the importance of “partnership” in the design process. Participants defined the “ultimate partnership” in co-designing as processes in which they were involved from the beginning, iteratively, in a participatory approach. Such processes were perceived as leading to successful design outcomes, which they would like to use, and reduced intergenerational tension. Conclusions: This study highlights the potential role of ageism as a detrimental factor in how digital technologies are designed. Viewing older persons as partners in co-designing and aspiring to more inclusive design processes may promote designing technologies that are needed, wanted and used.
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Technological developments go fast and are interrelated and multi-interpretable. As consumer needs change, the technological possibilities to meet those needs are constantly evolving and new technology providers introduce new disruptive business models. This makes it difficult to predict what the world of tomorrow will look like for an organization and that makes the risks for organizations substantial. In this context, it is difficult for organizations to determine what constitutes a good strategy to adopt digital developments. This paper describes a first step of a study with the objective to design a method for organizations to formulate a future-proof strategy in a rapidly changing, complex and ambiguous context. More specifically, this paper describes the results of a sequence of three focus groups that were held with a group of eight experts, with extensive experience as members of the decision making unit in organizations. The objectives of these sessions were to determine possible solutions for the outlined challenge in order to provide direction for continuation and scoping of the following research phases.
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Inleiding op een themanummer van British Journal of Social Work over sociaal werk in de digitale samenleving.
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