Significant progress has been made in ensuring that a digital connection can be offered to every household. However, bandwidth availability varies considerably and in the majority of cases falls short of what is currently considered internationally to be “high speed”(30MB/sec+).
Convergence in the digital space, e.g., TV sets and games consoles with Internet capability, plays a part in bringing “digital” to an increasing number of households. For those who may not be able to afford a digital connection/service or PC/device to effect a connection, access through libraries, schools, community centres is for the most part within reach. However, if a basic level access is no longer a significant deterrent for the “determined” citizen, then the focus of attention for digital inclusion must now shift to “use” and to addressing the motivational and skills factors that are the obstacles for what is still a sizeable minority of our people, many of whom could, but do not yet use the Internet.
According to the CSO (December 2011) report on the use of computers in households, Internet access “has increased over the period 2007-2011 with an estimated 78% now connected to the Internet compared with 72% in 2010 and 57% in 2007”. Adding to this the access points in Libraries, community centres and schools, Access appears to be getting to a point where it is not the problem it was. The report however indicates that usage is strongly skewed towards the young. However, apart from OECD PISA data relating to a sample of 15-year olds, we have little or no data on Internet usage – the scope of communications/tasks/transactions being undertaken on the Internet by individuals.
Data regarding usage is urgently needed if we are to target supports effectively to those who remain marginalised. It is important to separately measure and to seek to understand the underlying factors in the case of:
Persons who potentially have access to the Internet, but who do not as yet avail of it (apart from those who may have made a conscious decision not to).
Persons with no access to the Internet.
It is clear to those working in the field of digital inclusion that people who are currently regarded as the most unreachable will continue to be the most difficult to reach, for reasons that are more attributable to wider social exclusion factors than to problems of Internet service connectivity. There is a strong correlation between the wider problems of poverty and social exclusion and the problem of attaining digital inclusion for all. The following groups are under-represented and/or at risk of marginalisation in terms of Internet access and use:
People living in isolated rural areas
Older people
People with a disability
People with little formal education
People with literacy difficulties
People in lower income groups
People who are socially isolated
The homeless
Determined effort must continue to be made to deliver connectivity to all remote locations and to improve broadband speeds to acceptable international “high speed” standards where connections have already been made. Those who already have high-speed broadband have access to a much wider range of online services and to a richer and more motivating and rewarding experience. To that extent, Internet access cannot be said to be equally distributed throughout the population since speed and quality of connection is also closely correlated with cost/affordability, introducing the risk of a new form of inequality – the so-called second digital divide.
Awareness and motivation are critical to mobilising Internet adoption among those who still remain unconnected and who, precisely because they remain unconnected, are at risk of becoming more unreachable. Conversely, digital literacy, and the technologies it affords access to, can play an important role in overcoming other forms of social exclusion and contribute to the acquisition of key skills for lifelong learning. The goal of “every citizen digital” must be accorded the highest national priority and we must also turn our attention to the avoidance of a second digital divide, between those who are regular, confident, sophisticated and critical users of the Internet and those whose access is marginal or unproductive.
