What barriers to equal access to digital technologies do we face?

According to UNESCO data, there are also significant differences between men and women in the use of and access to modern technologies. Approximately 43% of the world’s female population still does not use the internet compared to 38% of men. Only 30% of the world’s researchers are women (UNESCO, Digital Inclusion). However, the gap is not only between women and men, the barriers to equal access to technology are much wider. They include social, cultural, educational and financial barriers.

The main barriers to equal access to technology include, as is quite clear from the previous text:

• ✅ Financial barriers: Affordability of digital devices and internet access)
• ✅ Gender inequalities: these are mainly different, culturally and socially conditioned attitudes towards women who may have limited access to technology, especially in developing countries. This may also be due to lower incomes and discrimination.
• ✅ Geographical inequalities: barriers to equal access are also conditioned, for example, by poor infrastructure in rural and remote areas or developing countries.
• ✅ Educational inequalities: barriers to the use of digital technologies include a lack of ability to use them effectively, which is often the case, for example, among the older generation or socially disadvantaged groups.
• ✅ Barriers related to special needs: The digital world has made only slow progress in meeting the needs of people with disabilities. The most common disabilities are visual, hearing or motor disabilities.

👉 On the next page you will read about concrete examples and initiatives that support overcoming these barriers.

Examples of projects and initiatives that support overcoming barriers to equal access to technology

We learn best through examples, so let’s be inspired by a variety of initiatives, programmes and projects that seek to promote digital inclusion. Let’s take a look at a few selected ones:

• ✅ Free digital skills courses

One example is the global initiative by Google, which came up with the Google Digital Garage program that seeks to expand digital skills among adults, especially women and low-income groups. Google also offers special courses for educators and young people. Online courses in digital literacy, marketing and data analytics areavailable in several languages.

📌 More information: https://learndigital.withgoogle.com/digitalgarage/

• ✅ Free infrastructure for schools

Many schools in remote regions and developing countries lack computers and digital equipment. That’s why the Computers for Schools (CFS) project was set up to refurbish computers and offer teachers training on how to use technology effectively in the classroom. The programme is widespread in Canada, but also, for example, in India and Kenya.

📌 More info: https://cfsc-opec.org/

• ✅ Internet for All

These initiatives are aimed at extending internet connectivity to rural and remote areas. An example is the Starlink (SpaceX) initiative, which provides internet in areas without fixed infrastructure. Also, Google came up with the idea to spread the internet using helium balloons (Project Loon), which was completed in 2021.

📌 More info: https://www.starlink.com/

• ✅ Education for rural women

The Digital Empowerment Foundation has decided to address the problem of low levels of education and digital literacy among women in rural areas by donating tablets and smartphones for easier access to education and providing training in this area.

📌 Read more: https://www.defindia.org/

👉 We are now at the end of the first chapter, in which you learned how technology affects our daily lives and work and career growth. You’ve learned what digital inclusion is and why it makes sense to support it. And you already know concrete examples of initiatives and programmes that support overcoming barriers to equal access to technology. Now let’s try to put this knowledge into practice.