One of the over-riding trends of the pandemic, was (and still is!) the substantially accelerated programme(s) of digital transformation. Speed however, is a relative concept, and thus the speed at which services were converted to digital did not always match the speed at which skillsets were expanded to incorporate a corresponding digital literacy.
If an accelerated transformation programme does not bring its “population” along with it, then by definition, we create a two-tier system comprising those who “can” and those who “cannot” operate in the newly digitized arena. Indeed, as more and more societal support systems (health, tax, education) are moved online, those who are not digitally capable will become increasingly alienated….in this context, inequality is not just about money!
Despite the fact that high-tech devices have come to dominate our lives, the digital divide is not just about people’s age at the point of transformation. It is easy to assume that the problem is with those who were born too long before the IT revolution (digital immigrants), rather than those who have grown up with technology (digital natives); while this may be partly true, there is also a growing body of research that shows an increasing proportion of 18- to 34-year olds describing their digital skills as “average” or less!
The net impact of this is that if you are not confident working online, then it is likely that it will be more difficult to secure a stable job, and that those roles that are available might be considered as low paid and less “secure”, or ones that risk being replaced by automation. Sadly, this form of inequality is becoming increasingly self-sustaining.
The pandemic has only made things worse; “right-sizing” efforts have tended to favour digitally literate employees; jobs that were reduced or cut are generally viewed as having had less potential to be digitally transformed, and may be part of those roles that will not be restored or revived post-pandemic. In a similar fashion, it was noticeable that children in households where there were poor digital skills or facilities, were far more likely to have been disadvantaged by the move to online learning, and may need to pursue additional, support courses to ensure they can adapt to an appropriate level to continue their education.
What is now of greater concern is that we have reached a tipping point…. where the effects of digital exclusion are becoming exponential. The more that work and learning move online, the more those who are not digitally literate will be pushed out of both. The more services like healthcare move into the digital space, the harder it will be for those who most need those services, to get access to them.
What is now also apparent is that an increasing body of knowledge and opinion that suggests that those with less digital skill or acumen are (generally) more susceptible to fake news, to online scams and to associated mental stress. This raises the impact and effect of cyber-crime, populist conspiracy theories, and of course cyber-bullying (and its resultant impact on mental well-being, which has also been highlighted in these pandemic times – a vicious circle).
At the moment, educational policy tends to be more concerned with the production of high-tech literate graduates to “feed” the tech industries need, but such education is often inaccessible to the other half of the population that lacks the basic skills to use the technology, let alone to produce it.
If there is any upside, then it might be argued that any diminution of the need (or ability) of the younger generation to display “perfect” images on social media, could potentially reduce stress and an insidious level of cyber-bullying…but even were that to happen, we still need to be more digitally literate in order to access all those social services which have migrated onto digital platforms.
The pandemic has clearly underlined that some are much more vulnerable than others. Without digital skills, it is increasingly hard to be well informed, to be an attractive employment prospect, to interact with public and health services and to protect yourself online. In a society where half the population can’t do these things, no one is safe until everyone is safe, and while we may have tackled the viral pandemic, we have yet to tackle the digital skills shortage pandemic…
With grateful thanks to Fintan O’Toole for first highlighting this trend
