Paper short abstract:

Fundamental infrastructure; energy, internet and digital services is prerequisite for development in modern world. Under-served communities living outside of power grid and networks are left behind as are lacking access to global value networks. This study proposes solution to remove digital divide.

Paper long abstract:

The fundamental infrastructure, that is, electricity and connectivity, which together forms a platform for various of digital services, is prerequisite for development in modern world. Modern society in industrialized countries relies more on digital systems and services, application and intelligence built into those. Digital connectivity is key element in the scheme, it is enabler and accelerator for business, transactions, exchanging and distributing information and knowledge. Thus, it forms the fundamental base for education, training, entrepreneurship, creating new business, jobs etc. However, in the other end, roughly half of the world population is still living outside of internet, and 1.3 billion people still off-the-grid. These include bottom of the pyramid, the poorest of the poor, which are living completely out of the basic infrastructure, mainly located in developing countries as in Africa and India. This creates huge digital divide and over billion people are left behind. However, there are ways to introduce and provide energy and digital infrastructure to these regions. Off-grid solar has huge potential for instance in Africa to become the infrastructural base, which could provide electricity to standard consumer appliances, digital tools, and connectivity and internet access to digital world. The design of such systems just needs to re-innovated. Based on previous findings, on which this study is built on, a new concept with a viable business models which are turn key services for improving livelihood in under-served communities and tackling digital divide are presented, and the impacts that such system has brought to local community are addressed.

Paper short abstract:

We will be presenting the results of two studies that have explored the digital needs of UK and Welsh households with children. The work has led to the development of a Minimum Digital Living Standard for use by researchers, policymakers, and practitioners addressing issues of digital exclusion.

Paper long abstract:

This paper presents the development and initial use of a Minimum Digital Living Standard (MDLS) for Households with Children. The project draws on significant prior work by the team on digital inclusion and Minimum Income Standards (MIS). The MDLS adapted the consensus-based methodology used to develop the MIS. Over three iterative rounds, groups consisting of purposively sampled participants who are demographically similar but socio-economically different developed a consensus MDLS definition through:

1. Consideration of what it means to be digitally included, and construction of case studies

2. Identification of the digital goods, skills and services needed in case study households

Further groups were undertaken to assess specificities around age (young people 16-18) and region (Wales). A UK-wide survey operationalised the MDLS to assess links with social, economic, cultural and digital factors. This was an in-person quota sample of 1500 households, selected to represent the UK population of families with children.

The paper reports on the development of the MDLS and the initial results from the survey. Overall, the project seeks to understand variation in needs, the specific challenges in families meeting, and the consequences of not meeting, the MDLS. As a future step the survey data, along with other relevant secondary data, will be integrated into a geodemographic. Qualitative work is ongoing with representatives of families who are below the MDLS to explore issues arising from falling below the standard. The work has been funded by the Nuffield Foundation, Welsh Government, and Nominet.

Paper short abstract:

Digital power in India is concentrated in urban areas and largely rooted in corporate affairs while the school system is suffering from digital poverty. The present study provides evidence on institutionalised determinants of the large disparity in digital ability among students in India.

Paper long abstract:

With the increasing role of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in education, employment, and other spheres of life, the digital ability is becoming a fundamental necessity. The key challenge for India is the lack of commensurate functional digital ability with the diffusion of ICT. This study examines the role of socioeconomic and institutional factors in determining digital ability by using nationally representative household survey data from India. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression models are applied, and the probability of digital ability is estimated. The result indicates that the digital abilities of students are majorly constrained by the institutional structure. Students attending government school and having Hindi or a regional language as the medium of instruction have a significantly lower probability of digital ability. The study concludes with recommendations that to make digital education more inclusive and harness the benefits of ICT, macro-level policies should consider the institutional structure i.e., the type of school and the medium of instruction.

Paper short abstract:

Although mobile phone usage increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, significant barriers constrain access to mobile health globally. Based on co-design workshop data, this paper describes barriers and enablers of mobile health promoting early childhood development in Sub-Saharan African countries.

Paper long abstract:

Introduction

Digital platforms have the potential to reduce inequality in access to early childhood development (ECD) information in low-income countries. Indeed, mobile apps, such as Minderoo Foundation’s Thrive by Five, can provide parents and caregivers with crucial information to support a child’s cognitive and socio-emotional development in the first five years of life. Iterative co-design workshops with stakeholders, however, are a critical step in the research and development process of such digital tools to identify the enablers and barriers to the adoption of an ECD app and, in turn, digital transformation of child-rearing practices in resource-limited settings.

Methods

Between 2021-2022, 25 co-design workshops with 85 parents and caregivers and 31 subject-matter experts were held in Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya and Namibia to inform the implementation of Thrive by Five in each country. Workshop notes were coded and the analysis followed an established thematic technique.

Results

Enablers include increased usage of digital platforms for parenting information and a general interest among caregivers in promoting healthy ECD with apps. However, consistent technological barriers to ECD app adoption include the urban-rural digital divide, a lack of digital literacy and literacy in general, scarcity of smartphones, poor internet in rural areas, and challenges with translation and adaptation of the content in local languages. Social barriers such as traditional gender roles in child-rearing also influence interest in accessing ECD apps, particularly among fathers. Further, civil unrest, food insecurity, unemployment, and poverty can affect the demand for ECD apps in low-income households.

Paper short abstract:

The Chinese government has long been striving to promote e-government to digitalise public services. While the huge population and regional economic imbalances contribute to digital inequality in e-government. We analyse how to tackle the problem by coordinating social and technical subsystems.

Paper long abstract:

Urbanisation and its related public management problems, coupled with the ICT Revolution, gave birth to the Electronic Government concept (E-government) (Sharma and Kalra, 2019). E-government relies on ICTs, such as blockchain, big data, cloud computing (Hashemi et al, 2013), information infrastructure (Bekkers, 2009) and related software systems (Ziemba et al., 2014) to deliver public services (Kassen, 2022). The purposes of e-government are to enhance government functions, create a more efficient, streamlined, open and transparent government, and provide better services for the public, enterprises and society (Nam et al., 2022).

While digital inequality is evitable in e-government in China because of its massive population and regional economic inequalities. Citizens being familiar with mobile Internet enjoy convenience while citizens lacking digital literacy are even more difficult to access public services due to the decreasing offline services.

E-government is not only simply to offer traditional government services online through ICTs but also to reorganise the government structure, reengineer operation processes of public sectors, and transform the culture of government (Sharma and Kalra, 2019). So addressing digital inequality in e-government also calls for a socio-technical lens.

This research performed a case study and found that the popularity of network infrastructure is a prerequisite for digital inequality. Then the technology innovations should be user-friendly and scenario. In the socio-subsystem, the organisation structure, governance process and administrative culture must coordinate with the technology development. And another key factor is stakeholder engagement, such as Internet companies with a large user base helping to promote e-government applications.

Paper short abstract:

This paper investigates global development joining in the data revolution while grappling with deficiencies in computational skills and facilities. It traces how development actors seize the opportunities and navigate challenges related to large-scale data in the Global North and the Global South.

Paper long abstract:

Data are now almost ubiquitous. Sensors and software are digitizing and storing all manner of social, economic, political, and environmental patterns and processes. As the size of these datasets has increased exponentially, many have begun to focus on how large-scale data harvested from private and online sources can complement public data and allow potentially unprecedented insights into our world. As this wealth of data can be mapped, measured, and analyzed, many have argued that large-scale data possesses the potential to produce fundamentally new ways of approaching development.

Yet relatively little is known about how best to harness such 'big data' in ways that could effectively inform development processes, particularly for the most disadvantaged and excluded. The challenge is compounded in contexts of low computational capacities and resources, as analysis of large-scale datasets requires specialized skills and facilities. Moreover, it remains unclear whether, and how, citizens are able to seize these opportunities, individually and collectively.

Despite the opportunities that big data analysis poses for human development, these approaches remain underutilized in both academic and practitioner circles. This paper addresses the paradox of development data: ever increasing amounts of available relevant data attracts the interest of development actors, yet deficiencies in computational skills and facilities limit its access, use, and grasp of the associated risks and limitations. Drawing from diverse case studies from around the world, it theorizes potential ways forward. This paper presents an opening chapter of a book project that focuses on this topic and is forthcoming later this year.

Paper short abstract:

This study provides the first RCT-based empirical evidence on the developmental impact of content-related digital platform technology which empowers marginalised communities’ entrepreneurship and employment and hence contributes to their income and resilience during COVID-19.

Paper long abstract:

We investigate the role of digital technology in inclusive development by conducting a randomised control trial (RCT) in Bangladesh. We analyse the mechanisms through which access to content-based digital platforms, as an emerging digital technology, empowers marginalised communities’ entrepreneurship and employment and hence contributes to their income. Based on a sample of 2974 respondents, we found that the treatment group, who received our content-based digital platform usage training programme, manifested higher income resilience during the Covid19 pandemic in 2020-2021, as a result of higher entrepreneurship and better employment status. This study contributes to the literature by analysing the transmission mechanisms through which a platform technology-based novel business model includes the marginalised communities into economic activities, and provides the first RCT-based empirical evidence on the developmental impact of content-related digital platform technology that requires low capital investment.

Paper short abstract:

Social media enables connectivity with a diverse community of users across the globe. Does this exposure affect people’s tolerance towards diversity of opinions on political orientation and gender norms? This research assesses users’ perceptions of this impact in the case of Pakistan.

Paper long abstract:

Social media provides individuals with opportunities to connect with a diverse community of users. It closes the communication gap prevalent due to socioeconomic stratification, geographical distances, or cultural dynamics. According to research, digital social networking affects people’s opinions and behaviors. One of the most debated psychosocial aspects of digital social networking is polarization. In popular opinion, extensive use of social media is polarizing societies on matters of wider public concern. Arguably, digital social networking can deplete social cohesion in the real world as well. Does this opinion carry weight in the context of Pakistan? Does exposure to social media affect youth's attitudes towards diversity of opinions and norms? What are the people’s perceptions of social media’s impact on social cohesion in Pakistan? Hence, the underlying study captures the youth's perceptions of social media’s impact on tolerance towards diversity of opinions on the premise that perceptions drive their behaviors. To this extent, this study shall rely on qualitative data collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews of social media users aged 18-35 and other stakeholders – academics, public intellectuals, and social activists. Selection of the target age bracket is based on the country’s online or digital active population’s profile. Thematic analysis techniques shall be used to draw insights on dimensions of interests.

Paper short abstract:

We investigate the effects of employment based on market forces on independent digital connectivity, through an alternative framework in support of SDG 9 that ensures sustainable digital capabilities through securing ownership instead of mere access, and eliminates reliance on public goods.

Paper long abstract:

The target of SDG 9 “Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure”’ to “ensure access to technology by increasing coverage” misses the agency narrative of digital connectivity. Individuals should have the agency to connect whenever and from whatever device they choose. Digital agency is not guaranteed via reliance on public goods, but might be influenced by paid work, where women dominate employment in precarious jobs. This paper interrogates the effects of employment based on market forces on Indonesia's gendered digital capabilities divide. Market forces in this context relate to the demand from different economic sectors in the informal economy (e.g., agriculture, commerce, and services) that drives economic actors to own and use a digital device. We conceptualise one form of digital capabilities: independent digital connectivity (IDC), modelled by integrating two sets of information: digital device ownership and internet access. A mixed-methods research design was employed, combining a national sample (SOFIA) and 100 semi-structured interviews acquired through remote fieldwork in Rural Indonesia. Findings demonstrate that informal self-employment in agriculture has a higher discouraging effect in medium IDC among men and maximum IDC among women. In commerce, women are less likely to acquire medium IDC, while men are less likely to acquire maximum IDC. In services, men are less likely to acquire medium IDC, while women are less likely to acquire maximum IDC. Five market forces identified from the qualitative data: i) trend and profitability, ii) connecting with prospective buyers, iii) the presence of local online marketplaces, iv) loss prevention and v) low market saturation.