Digital inclusion

Policies are required to tackle the two closely linked key drivers of gender inequity: existing socio-economic structures, and limited access to digital technologies. Governments should persist with addressing poverty, low education rates, restricted access to labour markets, and gender stereotypes that have created inequalities. To help lift LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS out of poverty, several systemic issues need to be addressed. Specifically, secondary school and tertiary education for women and girls is an imperative for sustainable change and requires the removal of structural barriers – including a lack of safe transportation, clean water for sanitation and hygiene (WASH), and safe toilets for individuals who menstruate starting at puberty. Moreover, societies’ attitudes and behaviours that drive inequalities, especially those of men and patriarchal societies, need to be changed. Tackling these problems will put women and girls in a better position to harness the opportunities made available by digital technologies. They can benefit from targeted training to develop their digital capabilities and opportunities to leverage technology outside of training that help build their confidence. Multi-sector partnerships can strengthen the execution of policies and strategies. Throughout the design, implementation and monitoring of all initiatives, it is crucial that women are a part of the leadership as well as being actively involved and engaged.

To ensure the digital inclusion of people with disabilities, older persons and other marginalized groups, ICT should be centred on universal design. This approach aims to create new technology that is accessible to everyone irrespective of disability, age, gender, ethnicity or any other characteristic. Universal design is underpinned by seven principles:[77] equitable use; flexibility in use; simple and intuitive use; perceptible information; tolerance for error; low physical effort; and size and space for approach and use.

AT is another pathway to achieving inclusion. Even with largely inclusive technology, some people are still likely to be excluded. For them, it is imperative that AT is developed to address the obstacles they face. The design can be low-tech or high-tech, and may harness special hardware or software, and tailored learning materials or devices. AT should be available at no cost to the user in order to ensure equitable access. Another enabler of accessible AT is open assistive tech and content, which is explored in more detail under Relevant and local content and services. It is also worth noting that persons with disabilities, older people, and their families and caregivers may need training to increase their awareness of AT and learn to use it effectively.

Inclusion can also be fostered through policies and strategies that governments introduce to help remove the barriers restricting these individuals from accessing and using digital technology. These policies should be developed from the outset either by or in consultation with older persons and people with disabilities, together with other key stakeholders. Alignment with the UNCRPD, where applicable, is advised. Policy should be implemented at all levels of government, from a national perspective to the local administrations. It is important that government portals incorporate, recommend, and demand these principles across every level. National governments can develop guides of accessibility and usability as well as provide technical assistance in the matter.

A) Education and strategies

As technology continues to advance quickly, the approach to strengthening COP needs to be adaptive and agile. Protecting children and young people from harm online requires minimizing four types of risk:

• Content risks: exposure to inaccurate or incomplete information, inappropriate or even criminal content, racist or discriminatory ideas, and content related to self-abuse, self-harm, destructive and violent behaviour, or radicalization
• Contact risks from adults or peers: harassment, sexual abuse, exploitation exclusion, discrimination, defamation and damage to reputation
• Contract risks: exposure to inappropriate contractual relationships, embedded marketing, online gambling, and the violation and misuse of personal data, and other issues around children’s consent online
• Conduct risks: the sharing of self-generated sexual content or risks characterized through hostile or violent peer activity

Mitigating these risks requires educating children and young people as well as their families and caregivers about COP. Similarly, legal and medical professionals need more education, awareness and readiness on COP to provide better support. Resources and tools must be made available to facilitate the development of the necessary digital skills and digital literacy to help tackle online safety. Governments can contribute to COP through inclusive multistakeholder strategies. These national strategies should be aligned and integrated with existing policy frameworks for children’s rights and cover all risks and potential harm to guarantee a digital environment that is safe, inclusive and empowering. Moreover, people should be made aware of what constitutes legal and socially acceptable behaviour online, and what actions must be taken to identify perpetrators and remediate the situation.

Creating an online environment where vulnerable groups can obtain access safely will require contributions and collaboration from multiple stakeholders, including governments, private sector actors, and civil society organizations. Governments can develop and implement regulatory frameworks that seek to protect the rights of all online users, including vulnerable groups. These should be supported by putting processes and systems in place to respond to any violations (e.g. national CIRTs/CERTs). Some countries, as shown in Figure 18, have even adopted legislation that criminalizes online harassment and abuse. In alignment with regulatory frameworks, private sector organizations can integrate safety features in their products and services that mitigate the potential threats and risks faced by users. When people experience online antisocial behaviour while using these products or services, there should be a clear, simple and effective reporting procedure available to address the incident. For children, helplines and hotlines can be opened so that they are able to report incidents and obtain support. All connected people should be educated about their rights, empowered with information about how to keep safe online, and taught to leverage technical settings and other mechanisms to report antisocial behaviour. They also need to be made aware of illegal activities to avoid and given guidance on how to engage online respectfully and create an inclusive environment for all.

There is little data about the estimated 2.9 billion people who are still offline, particularly in LDCs, LLDCs and SIDSs. Disaggregated and granular data tends to be even more scarce. Some barriers to obtaining data are the associated complexity, cost and time-frame. Another obstacle is the methodological development and alignment of the data collection procedure and the selection of indicators to track inclusion. When data is available, there is limited statistical capacity to interpret it. Without robust information, it is difficult to develop a comprehensive overview of the status of ICT and connectivity in these countries. The public, private and social sectors are unable to quantify the gaps in meaningful connectivity, making it impossible to realistically set targets, monitor and track progress, measure the impact of interventions, and identify actions that do and do not work. Furthermore, data often serves the interests of people who are in power instead of those who are marginalized. Existing power structures are maintained and even strengthened by the failure to enable people to generate and utilize their own data.

Organizations across all sectors can contribute to collecting, verifying, harmonizing, analysing and sharing data individually or through partnerships. Increased investments in the funding and time required to collect and analyse data are key, as is improving the technical expertise and capacity of the regulators and operators. As their capabilities expand, there are greater opportunities to advance data collection (e.g. harnessing big data and AI) and introduce new statistics that are more accurate, granular, faster and cheaper to compute. In addition, organizations can contribute by thoroughly monitoring and reporting the impact of their initiatives addressing digital inclusion. Through an open government approach, administrations play a fundamental role regarding data sharing and promoting cooperation at the local levels. Most importantly, all people should be empowered to create, own and leverage their own data through digital technology. This can be activated through making analytical tools available and affordable for individual users, while generating person-centred data policies and regulations including transparency requirements for data collection and usage across sectors.