Inequalities in the Digital World

Solutions discussed:

Establish Digital Inclusion Networks in local communities to help people develop essential digital skills for life and work

Create a network of trusted, established groups or places in local communities that can provide basic digital skills training. These can include libraries, community centres, small local charities that work specifically with old people or women etc. Focus on the communities with highest digital exclusion - most likely to be lower socioeconomic groups.

Presented by: Helen Milner, Founder and Director of the Good Things Foundation, UK

Digital Inclusion Network

Create a mobile data provision programme to improve access to affordable data

Work with network providers to create a bank of mobile data vouchers that can be given to people who can't afford it, as Good Things Foundation have done with Virgin Media, O2, and Three in the UK to build a National Mobile Database.

Presented by: Helen Milner, Founder and Director of the Good Things Foundation, UK

Good Things Foundation

Create a National Device Bank to provide free refurbished devices to those in need

Work with businesses to create national programmes to collect and repurpose old devices rather than them being thrown away.

Presented by: Helen Milner, Founder and Director of the Good Things Foundation, UK

Good Things Foundation

 

Create multistakeholder coalitions to develop and implement strategies for increasing digital access of target groups

Create coalitions of representatives from governments, civil society, international organisations, private sector, academic institutions etc. that each focus on increasing digital access for certain target groups such as women, elderly, young people. The Internet Governance Forum is an example of this.

Presented by: Jason Munyan, Programme Management Officer, United Nations, USA

Un.org

Internet Governance Forum 

Undertake rigorous data collection to generate a comprehensive database on digital access

Need to have disaggregated data by region, gender, age, socio-demographic factors etc, to fullly understand the problem of digital access inequality. This can inform more targeted goals and action plans. For example, the Good Things Foundation has robust data collection systems in place for the UK, which enables them to make specific recommendations for local and national governments to improve digital access.

Presented by: Jason Munyan, Programme Management Officer, United Nations, USA

Roadmap for Digital Cooperation

Undertake a mapping exercise to better understand the distributive patterns of the digital divide

Work with the host government and ministries of each country to map out which digital capacity building initiatives may be best for certain areas/groups, and to develop action plans. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have started such a mapping exercise, along with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

Presented by: Jason Munyan, Programme Management Officer, United Nations, USA

Roadmap for Digital Cooperation

Reshape the data market to prioritise public good over corporate interests

Competition and profit making influences decisions made by technology companies with regards to data. Human rights have been put at risk through social medial companies compromising privacy by sharing peoples' data to increase revenue.

Presented by: Gabriela Ramos, Assistant Director-General for the Social and Human Sciences of UNESCO, France

Educate the public about digital literacy and critical thinking

As technology is advancing very rapidly, most people don't understand how AI is influencing their decisions, how social media algorithms work, who has access to their data, among other issues. There is so much information online, that individuals need critical thinking skills to distinguish the truth from misinformation.

Presented by: Gabriela Ramos, Assistant Director-General for the Social and Human Sciences of UNESCO, France

Governments should put human rights at the centre of regulatory frameworks on the development and use of digital technologies

Need to assess the ethics of AI and digital technologies and create regulations to protect citizen's human rights. Eg. the Online Safety Bill in the UK.

Presented by: Jason Munyan, Programme Management Officer, United Nations, USA

Online Safety Bill

Technology companies should be held responsible for ensuring that the people and data used to build AI systems are diverse and representative

AI is being increasingly used in different fields such as for finance policy, health and others. If certain groups of people (for example women) are excluded from the development of the AI systems, or excluded from the data sets upon which the AI is built, then it will not yield appropriate results for those groups.

Presented by: Gabriela Ramos, Assistant Director-General for the Social and Human Sciences of UNESCO, France 

Measuring trends in AI 

UK Government Online Safety Bill