"Technology has driven major change in some areas of humanitarian response, but its use can also be biased and blind to risks. A tendency towards techno-optimism risks avoiding fundamental questions around the limits of technology, the role of the private sector (including local and regional technol
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ogy entrepreneurs) and identifying when technology is and is not useful. Technology is not inclusive by nature. The humanitarian digital divide exists and there is growing awareness of this, but the humanitarian system is currently focused mainly on digital risks, meaning insufficient attention is placed on questions of how to root digital tools in a more inclusive framework. We need to go beyond token moves to more inclusive digital approaches and really delve into what is required for genuine change." (Conclusions, page 23)
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"This is a timely and much-needed collection that fills an important gap in the literature. It offers excellent conceptual tools and a selection of case studies that provide a useful map of the digital divide across the African continent and between Africa and the rest of the world. I especially app
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reciate the editors’ efforts to address African issues on their own terms and to problematize interpretive paradigms from the global north. It is a book that many will look forward to reading." (Pier Paolo Frassinelli, Professor, School of Communication, University of Johannesburg, South Africa)
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"Open educational resources (OER) are an important emerging genre of teaching and learning materials with the potential for providing significant learning support on a global scale. OER have the capacity to enhance the availability of quality reading and learning materials to audiences who are not c
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urrently accessing traditional print materials. However, the particular supply and demand features of OER give rise to questions about how they could best reach some of the least-resourced target audiences. This report aims to investigate these questions, particularly as they relate to the potential use of OER for helping to meet basic education needs in low-resource environments of Africa. The report draws primarily on three types of data: a review of written sources on OER in Africa, interviews of eight OER supply organizations, and interviews of thirteen teachers, headmasters and leaders of small NGOs in four countries of Africa. This data indicates that, while there is an abundance of OER available, the demand side is much less robust for a range of reasons. Based on analysis and discussion of the data, the report makes several recommendations for enhancing OER use among the target audiences." (Abstract)
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"In chapters examining a broad range of issues - including sexuality, politics, education, race, gender relations, the environment and social protest movements - Digitized Lives argues that making sense of digitized culture means looking past the glossy surface of techno gear to ask deeper questions
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about how we can utilize technology to create a more socially, politically and economically just world. This second edition includes important updates on mobile and social media, examining how new platforms and devices have altered how we interact with digital technologies in an allegedly 'post-truth' era." (Publisher description)
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"The road ahead is uphill: today worldwide some 327 million fewer women than men have a smartphone and can access the mobile Internet. Women are under-represented in ICT jobs, top management and academic careers and, as shown in this report, men are four times more likely than women to be ICT specia
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lists. At 15 years of age, on average, only 0.5% of girls wish to become ICT professionals, compared to 5% of boys. Women-owned start-ups receive 23% less funding and are 30% less likely to have a positive exit compared to male-owned businesses. This report explores a range of factors that underpin the digital gender divide, bolsters the evidence base for policy making and provides policy directions for consideration by all G20 governments. It has been prepared by the OECD at the request of the Australian Government to support advancement of the 2017 G20 Roadmap for Digitalisation: Policies for a Digital Future, in particular its aim to support the equitable participation of women in the digital economy. It complements the initiative of the 2018 Argentinian G20 Presidency to share policies, actions and national practices that have had a significant and measurable impact in bridging the digital gender divide, while supporting Argentina’s mainstreaming of gender across the G20 agenda. The report finds that hurdles to access, affordability, lack of education as well as inherent biases and sociocultural norms curtail women and girls’ ability to benefit from the opportunities offered by the digital transformation. In addition, girls’ relatively lower educational enrolment in disciplines that would allow them to perform well in a digital world – such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics, as well as information and communication technologies – coupled with women’s and girls’ more limited use of digital tools could lead to widening gaps and greater inequality. Acting now to reverse these trends can pay off: the reports finds that greater inclusion of women in the digital economy and increased diversity bring value, both social and economic. For instance, inventions arising out of mixed teams are more economically valuable and have higher impact than those in which only men are involved. Co-ordinated policy action can help narrow the digital gender gap. This requires raising a wareness and tackling gender stereotypes; enabling enhanced, safer and more affordable access to digital tools; and stronger cooperation across stakeholders to remove barriers to girls and women’s full participation in the digital world." (Foreword, page 5)
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"This briefing paper argues that promoting girls’ digital literacy and closing the digital gender gap will play an important role in achieving gender equality and promoting the rights of girls and women worldwide. Indeed, bridging the digital gender divide is essential in ensuring girls and women
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are not left behind in an increasingly digital future. The paper also argues that actions promoting girls’ digital empowerment should be guided by the principle of engaging girls and women as active, capable partners in our work, not merely passive recipients or targets. Rather than making assumptions about what girls want and need from technology, it is important to work together with girls to strengthen and develop their use and creation of digital tools.
The first section of the paper provides key facts and figures on the prevailing gender digital divide, while the second section reviews the relevant international normative framework. The section following considers some past and current projects and initiatives – from Plan International and our peer organisations – that have used technology to promote the rights and unique needs of girls and women. The challenges and barriers to bridging the digital gender divide are considered in the fourth section, before the final section provides recommendations on the way forward." (Introduction, page 2)
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"Increasing number of reports, initiatives and efforts are focused on addressing women’s ability to enjoy universal, acceptable, affordable, unconditional, open, meaningful and/or equal access to information, the internet and ICTs. These include, but are not limited to, the recent work of civil so
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ciety organisations, research institutions, various private sector organisations and intergovernmental organisations. There is also a widely acknowledged need for more gender-disaggregated data to accurately measure “gender digital divides”. But there also needs to be more locally relevant data (as opposed to aggregated data at a global level) to better understand underlying local factors and circumstances that hinder women of specifc regions in the global South from accessing and using ICTs, the internet and/or information. But why access is important perhaps also needs to be interrogated from a feminist perspective, which entails not taking for granted that access to ICTs is necessarily a positive and empowering development. What is also relevant is to view the dynamics of race, caste, region (urban-rural), ableism, age and other factors, in relation to gender and access." (Conclusion, page 98)
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"In many countries, mobile operators have teamed up with social media platforms to offer free access to specific websites or internet services—including news websites. The most well-known of these offerings, Facebook’s Free Basics, has been explicitly pitched as a way to give citizens in develop
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ing countries greater access to news, but Facebook is not the only company touting these so-called “zero-rated” arrangements as a bridge across the digital divide. This report examines whether these arrangements are broadening access to diverse sources of news, as promised, and whether they might have broader consequences for the news market. Little evidence exists that zero-rating alone has been a successful strategy to grow audience reach. Technical hurdles jeopardize news media inclusion, especially for smaller outlets. Zero-rated news is a concern for fair markets and pluralism as it might strengthen the dominance of large internet platforms." (Key findings)
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"The volume examines the risks and opportunities of a digital society characterized by the increasing importance of knowledge and by the incessant rise and pervasiveness of information and communication technologies (ICTs). At a global level, the pivotal role of ICTs has made it necessary to rethink
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ways to avoid forms of digital exclusion or digital discrimination. This edited collection comprises of chapters written by respected scholars from a variety of countries, and brings together new scholarship addressing what the process of digital inclusion means for individuals and places in the countries analyzed. Each country has its own strategy to guarantee that people can access and enjoy the benefits of the information society. While this book does not presume to map all the countries in the world, it does shed light into these strategies, underlining what each country is doing in order to reduce digital inequalities and to guarantee that socially disadvantaged people (in terms of disabilities, availability of resources, age, geographic location, lack of education, or ethnicity) are digitally included." (Publisher description)
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"Although discussion of the digital divide is a relatively new phenomenon, social inequality is a deeply entrenched part of our current social world and is now reproduced in the digital sphere. Such inequalities have been described in multiple traditions of social thought and theoretical approaches.
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To move forward to a greater understanding of the nuanced dynamics of digital inequality, we need the theoretical lenses to interpret the meaning of what has been observed as digital inequality. This volume examines and explains the phenomenon of digital divides and digital inequalities from a theoretical perspective. Indeed, with there being a limited amount of theoretical research on the digital divide so far, Theorizing Digital Divides seeks to collect and analyse different perspectives and theoretical approaches in analysing digital inequalities, and thus propose a nuanced approach to study the digital divide." (Publisher description)
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"Unfortunately, the Internet has fallen short of its promises in some other aspects, as its benefits have not fully reached people in the bottom of the income distribution. For example, skilled workers are better able to leverage the Internet to increase their earnings, whereas unskilled workers fac
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e a higher risk of having their jobs automated. High-productivity firms are more likely to use the Internet to grow their business, while mom-and-pop stores face the risk of being displaced. Rich countries, which tend to have stronger institutions than poorer countries, are better equipped to use the Internet to fight corruption and hold public officials accountable. In other words, the past three decades have shown that the benefits of achieving universal Internet access or increasing the size of the information and communication technology sector will not fully materialize unless governments improve their business environment, invest in human capital, and enhance their institutions. This message cannot be emphasized enough, especially for countries in the ECA region with a long tradition of distortionary industrial policies aimed at cherrypicking winners and losers. Reaping Digital Dividends: Leveraging the Internet for Development in Europe and Central Asia provides a framework for governments in the region to maximize the impact of the Internet on poverty reduction and shared prosperity. It highlights the diverse yet surmountable set of challenges. Although many people in the East remain unconnected, the experience of their neighbors to the West shows that achieving nearly universal Internet access does not guarantee success. For example, several factors hamper technology adoption among firms, while rigid regulations constrain the expansion of the sharing economy. This report argues that reaping digital dividends requires policies focused not only on the telecommunications sector but also on the analog complements, such as skills and the business environment. It also highlights that governments should be prepared to address the disruptive effects of new technologies and facilitate the transition of displaced workers to new and more productive jobs." (Foreword)
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"Although most Africans remain disconnected from the Internet, and access to broadband services continues to be a central policy issue, the increased availability of broadband services alone will not reduce digital inequality on the continent. While the provision of access to the Internet remains a
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key public policy issue — as a necessary condition of digital participation in the economy and society — it is insufficient. Even where networks and services are available, large numbers of people are unable to access these services affordably or use them optimally to enhance their social and economic well-being, unlike in more mature economies, where levels of human development and equality are higher [...] Demand stimulation measures — such as the reduction of prices to make services more affordable, the development of relevant local content and applications, the enhancement of citizens’ e-literacy and national skills development plans — are the focus areas of this paper. It examines alternative policy and regulatory interventions to so-called “international best practice” — assuming in the process certain political and economic conditions, by recognizing the institutional and resource constraints that generally exist in African countries — and proposes multiple strategies across the ICT ecosystem that could result in more inclusive digital development." (Executive summary)
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"Based on 15 months of ethnographic research, this book aims to understand why low-income Brazilians have invested so much of their time and money in learning about social media. Juliano Spyer explores this question from a number of perspectives, including education, relationships, work and politics
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. He argues the use of social media reflects contradictory values. Low-income Brazilians embrace social media to display literacy and upward mobility, but the same technology also strengthens traditional networks of support that conflict with individualism." (Back cover)
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"[This report] surveys the landscape of digital opportunity as it relates to – and affects – children. It examines the digital divides that prevent millions of children from accessing through the internet new opportunities to learn and, someday, to participate in the digital economy, helping to
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break intergenerational cycles of poverty. It also explores the undeniably dark side of the internet and digital technology, from cyberbullying to online child sexual abuse to Dark web transactions and currencies that can make it easier to conceal trafficking and other illegal activities that harm children. It reviews some of the debates about less obvious harms children may suffer from life in a digital age – from digital dependencies to the possible impact of digital technology on brain development and cognition. And it outlines a set of practical recommendations that can help guide more effective policymaking and more responsible business practices to benefit children in a digital age. Equally important, this report includes the perspectives of children and young people on the impact of digital technology in their lives – telling their own stories about the issues that most affect them." (Foreword, page vi)
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"Throughout the last twenty years the digital divide – a multidimensional concept – has evolved in a manner that takes account of various technological, socio-economic, socio-political, and socio-cultural considerations. The objective of this study is to access recent conceptualizations of the t
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erm and to identify emerging considerations. In this paper I employ Okoli and Schabram’s (Okoli, Schabram, 2010) systematic literature review framework as a basis for examining 21 digital divide focused scholarly articles that were selected from 118 peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2010 and 2015. The findings suggest that scholarly literature published in this domain during the last five years has identified 42 user attitudes towards technology, motivations for use of technology, and socio-cultural backgrounds as factors influencing the notion of the digital divide. Despite the lack of a widely agreed upon definition of the digital divide, recent conceptualizations appear to be moving away from the traditional emphasis on technological and economic gaps. The central theme of the selected articles is that without addressing long existing socio-economic and sociocultural inequalities, which are real and deep divides, bridging the technological gaps might not end the real issue of digital divide."
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"Juliano Spyer procura entender por que brasileiros de baixa renda investiram tanto tempo e dinheiro para incorporar o uso das mídias sociais a seu cotidiano. Explora essa questão por uma variedade de temas, incluindo educação, relacionamentos, trabalho e política e argumenta que o uso das míd
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ias sociais reflete valores e motivações contraditórias. Brasileiros de baixa renda abraçam as mídias sociais para exibir sua crescente escolaridade e mobilidade social, mas a mesma tecnologia também fortalece redes de apoio mútuo tradicionais que rejeitam atitudes individualistas." (Descrição da casa editora)
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