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Digital Access, Inequalities & Inclusion

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Sustainable, Universal Access to the Internet: Environmental Implications and Policy Choices

Teddy Woodhouse

Washington, DC: Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI); World Wide Web Foundation (2021), 29 pp.

"This report analyses how governments are building climate and carbon factors into their broadband policies, looks at the consequences of inaction, and suggests policy recommendations towards a greener internet. We compiled publicly available documents for the national broadband plans from the 100 l ... more

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Mobile Technology and Social Transformations: Access to Knowledge in Global Contexts

Stefanie Felsberger, Ramesh Subramanian (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2021), xviii, 180 pp.

"This book investigates the ways in which the mobile telephone has transformed societies around the world, bringing both opportunities and challenges. At a time when knowledge and truth are increasingly contested, the book asks how mobile technology has changed the ways in which people create, disse ... more

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Gender Digital Divide: Desk Review Report

Alexandra Tyers

Washington, DC: USAID (2021), viii, 87 pp.

"This desk review is the first phase of creating gender digital divide tools for USAID Gender Advisors. It provides an overview of the current status of the gender digital divide (with a particular focus on mobile phones and mobile Internet, although these are not the only aspects of the gender digi ... more

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Mobile Broadband Internet, Poverty and Labor Outcomes in Tanzania

Kalvin Bahia, Pau Castells, Takaaki Masaki et al.

World Bank Group (2021), 49 pp.

"What are the impacts of expanding mobile broadband coverage on poverty, household consumption and labor market outcomes in developing countries? Who benefits from improved coverage of mobile internet? To respond to these questions, this paper applies a difference-in-differences estimation using pan ... more

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Measuring Digital Development: Facts and Figures 2021

Geneva: ITU (2021), iv, 26 pp.

"An estimated 4.9 billion people are using the Internet in 2021, according to latest estimates in this 2021 edition of Measuring Digital Development: Facts and figures. That means that roughly 63 per cent of the world’s population is now online – an increase of 17 per cent – with almost 800 mi ... llion people estimated to have come online since 2019. Internet penetration increased more than 20 per cent on average in Africa, in Asia and the Pacific, and in the UN-designated Least Developed Countries (LDCs). With most of the 17 Global Goals thrust sharply off-track by the force of the emergency, the pandemic has highlighted – and exacerbated – the crippling cost of digital exclusion. Achieving universal meaningful connectivity has become a matter of the utmost urgency if we are to meet the SDGs by the end of the decade. We cannot close the digital divide if we cannot measure it. And we cannot connect the unconnected if we do not know who they are, where they live, and why they remain offline – nor can we measure the success of our policies to bridge the gap . While the access divide is close to being bridged, with 95 per cent of the world’s population now living within range of a mobile broadband network, important blind spots remain. Close to 30 per cent of Africa’s rural population still lacks mobile broadband coverage. And even though the vast majority of the world’s people could access the Internet through mobile broadband, less than two thirds actually do. The statistics reveal a connectivity ‘grand canyon’ separating the digitally empowered from the digitally excluded, with 96 per cent of the 2.9 billion still offline living in the developing world. Drilling down to country level also affords a more nuanced picture. Location plays a big part: our figures reveal that the share of Internet users in urban areas is twice as high as in rural areas. There is also a generational gap – 71 per cent of the world’s population aged 15-24 is using the Internet, compared with 57 per cent of all other age groups. And gender remains a factor: globally, 62 per cent of men are using the Internet compared with 57 per cent of women. While that digital gender divide has been narrowing across all regions, women remain digitally marginalized in many of the world’s poorest countries, where online access could potentially have its most powerful effect." (Foreword) more

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Connecting Empowerment: How Social Network Expansion in Women’s Collectives Helps Bridge the Gender Digital Divide

Eric Rice, Sara Chamberlain

London: BBC Media Action (2021), 9 pp.

"This report, based on research conducted with women's empowerment collectives (self help groups, co-operatives, rights-based groups, trade unions) in India in late 2019, explores the relationship between the expansion of women's social networks in collectives, their growing empowerment, and their a ... more

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Media and Information Literacy Index. Country Report Côte D’Ivoire

Luise Krumm, Dennis Reineck

Bonn: Deutsche Welle DW Akademie (2020), 27 pp.

"Young Ivorians are adept at using digital media. They are creative when it comes to using digital media and many have developed strategies to cope with media malpractices such as cyberbullying or hate speech. These are two significant, indicative findings from the present MIL INDEX country study. B ... oth seem very impressive considering the challenges of high illiteracy rates and the strongly politicized national media landscape in Côte d’Ivoire. The results of the study are drawn from eight focus groups conducted in the beginning of 2019 in Abidjan and Bouaké and interviews with eight local experts. They confirm that young people are very good at using and creating content on social media but urgently need better critical, analytical, and reflective skills. This MIL INDEX study is aimed at obtaining a concise picture of media- and information-related skills amongst youths under the age of 35 in Côte d’Ivoire. It addresses five dimensions of Media and Information Literacy (MIL) according to DW Akademie’s MIL model: access, analysis, reflection, creation, and action. In terms of access the focus groups conducted for this study reveal that young urban and semi-urban Ivorians use a variety of different media for purposes such as consuming information, communication, entertainment, education, or business information. Digital media, particularly social media platforms and instant messengers, are the most used and most popular among this age group and are generally preferred over traditional media. Nonetheless, radio and television are still valued for their auditory and visual input which are significant characteristics considering the high illiteracy rates of about 40,4 % present in Côte d’Ivoire (UIS, 2018). A divide between more urban and more rural regions is visible in the case of radio programs, which are more popular in more rural settings. The focus groups suggest this is due to the fact that local radio stations are often the only media which provide news relevant to more remote areas. Most other media show a tendency to focus only on news from the capital. Printed media are widely regarded as too costly and outdated by Ivorian youths. The results of the analysis dimension indicate that most focus group participants possess a good digital and media knowledge while at the same time many lack awareness of their rights to freedom of expression and access to information. Striking was that youths generally consider content provided by traditional media to be more trustworthy, but mainly consume social media content. This and often very loose definitions of what media quality means showed that there is still room for improvement when it comes to the young people’s analytical skills. Overall, urbanites seem to question the trustworthiness of media content slightly more than youths from more rural regions. Results from the reflection dimension confirm that Ivorian youths are constantly exposed to malevolent forms of communication and media malpractices such as cyberbullying, hate speech, sexual harassment, and disinformation. Most young people show strong abilities when it comes to recognizing media problems and using prevention or coping strategies to handle them. Exceptions are politically motivated disinformation and biased reporting which are taken as normal in the Ivorian context. Due to this tendency towards normalization only very few young people reflect critically upon this media malpractice. Reflection on a deeper level such as on the impact of media messages or motivations of news outlets is often missing among young people." (Executive summary) more

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Manual for measuring ICT access and use by households and individuals

Geneva: ITU (2020), xii, 335 pp.

Since ITU first published this Manual in 2009, the digital technology sector has evolved almost beyond recognition. The Internet is now accessed through a multitude of devices, including mobile phones, tablets and similar handheld computers. The impressive spread of mobile broadband networks has bro ... more

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The Last-mile Internet Connectivity Solutions Guide: Sustainable Connectivity Options for Unconnected Sites

John Garrity, Aminata Amadou Garba

Geneva: ITU (2020), xviii, 137 pp.

"There are several overarching reasons why billions of people remain offline, ranging from a lack of network infrastructure availability and affordable Internet services to gaps in skills and ability, the availability and cost of personal devices, and a perceived lack of relevancy. For example, over ... 750 million people (approximately 10 per cent of the global population) are not covered by mobile broadband (3G or higher).2 This lack of coverage is particularly concentrated in rural and remote areas. In addition to the coverage gap, usage gaps exist in places with broadband coverage. For example, while up to 31 per cent of individuals in Africa do not have mobile broadband coverage, around 45 per cent do not use mobile Internet even though they live in places with mobile coverage. Estimates also suggest that there are at least 88 countries worldwide where average prices for entry-level mobile broadband service are considered unaffordable (above 2 per cent of average monthly GNI per capita). The Last-Mile Connectivity Internet Solutions Guide was developed to support the design and development of programmes and interventions that address two of these main issues: the lack of Internet infrastructure availability in certain areas; high Internet service prices that make Internet connectivity unaffordable for local populations. The Solutions Guide presents a methodology for introducing sustainable, affordable connectivity solutions in unconnected and underserved geographies. Although the other challenges (e.g. digital literacy, personal devices and locally relevant content) are as important, they are not the focus here, as they are addressed in depth in other resources listed in the Annex 2. This Solutions Guide was developed to help accelerate actions by Member States to address last-mile Internet connectivity issues in situations that include a lack of network infrastructure and with a view to encouraging more affordable service delivery. It has been written from the perspective of localities and users in geographies without Internet access: the last-mile connectivity communities. The tools, service interventions and policy solutions therefore reflect how best to extend Internet access to those localities, taking into account their unique characteristics." (Executive summary) more

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Rural Broadband Policy Framework: Connecting the Unconnected. A Rural Broadband Policy Framework providing guidance to address the 'Digital Divide'

Washington, DC: Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI); World Wide Web Foundation; Association for Progressive Communications (APC); CIPESA (2020), 15 pp.

"The internet has revolutionised the way that many of us live our lives, enabling new forms of communication, fostering online communities, fuelling economic growth, and facilitating all manner of entertainment. Yet about half of the world’s population remains offline, and only about 19% of the Le ... more

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Connecting humanity: Assessing investment needs of connecting humanity to the Internet by 2030

Geneva: ITU (2020), vi, 25 pp.

"Nearly USD 428 billion is required to achieve universal access to broadband connectivity by 2030 at the global level. This amount includes significant investment in infrastructure, investments to design and implement policy and regulatory frameworks that incentivize and promote growth in broadband ... more

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Connected: How a Mexican Village Built its Own Cell Phone Network

Roberto Jesús González

Oakland, Calif.: University of California Press (2020), xiii, 259 pp.

"This is the true story of how, against all odds, a remote Mexican pueblo built its own autonomous cell phone network – without help from telecom companies or the government. Anthropologist Roberto J. González paints a vivid and nuanced picture of life in a Oaxaca mountain village and the collect ... more

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Media and Information Literacy Index. Country Report Uganda

Dennis Reineck, Luise Krumm

Bonn: Deutsche Welle DW Akademie (2020), 25 pp.

"Young Ugandans are reluctant to voice their concerns and take part in public discussions according to indicative findings from the MIL INDEX country study presented here. The eight focus groups conducted for the study in Kampala and Bugembe early in 2019 revealed that youths are using both traditio ... nal and social media extensively, but discussions of political and public issues take place mainly in closed circles on platforms like WhatsApp. “It is a suffocated environment,” says media expert Gerald Businge. This MIL INDEX study is aimed at obtaining a concise picture of media- and information-related skills amongst youths under the age of 35 in Uganda. It addresses five dimensions of Media and Information Literacy (MIL) based on DW Akademie’s MIL model: access, analysis, reflection, creation, and action. The focus group participants see themselves living in the “the dot-com era” though access to the Internet and even television is far from universal in Uganda. The smartphone is the most popular device and it serves as a benchmark when judging more traditional media (radio, television, and newspapers). Social media are used alongside traditional media, but there is a feeling that traditional media, especially radio, are losing touch with the Ugandan youth of today. There is a general neglect of printed media, based on an aversion to long reads and often also difficulties in understanding them. Some participants feel they are addicted to social media and online messengers. When it comes to analytical skills, the Ugandan youths in the focus groups are not very critical of the media environment they live in despite the overwhelming evidence that state control, intimidation, and media concentration are problems in Uganda. But they do pick up on news bias and sensationalism. They are also aware of the fact that online sources and social media information should not be trusted blindly. Participants can differentiate between quality and tabloid-type media, but an alarming proportion does not know their constitutional right to freedom of expression. The level of reflection on the part of focus group participants is medium to low. They can render many cases of cyberbullying/hate speech, disinformation and cybercrime, though they are not always aware of the difference. Especially the examples of cyber-harassment that are recounted in the focus groups reveal that female youths are primarily targeted. At the same time there seems to be little in the way of counselling for victims and there was not enough reflection of the background to such malevolent forms of communication. Strategies in coping with them are not very elaborate, though some groups did mention methods of verification in the context of disinformation several times. There is considerable potential for support when it comes to dealing with cyberbullying, cyber-harassment, hate speech and cybercrime." (Executive summary) more

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Africa’s Digital Divide and the Promise of E-Learning
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Matthias Krönke

Afrobarometer (2020), 18 pp.

"On average across 34 countries, one in five adults (20%) have access to both a smartphone and a computer, while 43% only have access to a basic cell phone. In 15 out of 34 countries, at least half of adults have access to a smartphone or a computer or both. About three in 10 respondents (31%) use t ... more

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The Digital Divide

Jan van Dijk

Cambridge: Polity Press (2020), vi, 184 pp.

"Contrary to optimistic visions of a free internet for all, the problem of the 'digital divide' - the disparity between those with access to internet technology and those without - has persisted for close to twenty-five years. In this textbook, Jan van Dijk considers the state of digital inequality ... more

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Meaningful Connectivity: A New Standard to Raise the Bar for Internet Access

Dhanaraj Thakur, Teddy Woodhouse et al.

Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) (2020), 18 pp.

"The meaningful connectivity standard is a tool to raise the bar for internet access and set more ambitious policy goals for digital development. It sets minimum thresholds across the four dimensions of internet access that matter most to users. These are: regular internet use - minimum threshold: d ... more

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Ghana’s E-Learning Program During Pandemic Presents Access Challenges for Many Students

Mavis Zupork Dome, Daniel Armah-Attoh

Afrobarometer (2020), 9 pp.

"Afrobarometer findings show that radio and television are the most widely accessible platforms for students seeking to participate in MoE/GES e-learning programs, although rural and poor households are at a disadvantage when it comes to owning these devices. The data show relatively low rates of ac ... more

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Making Open Development Inclusive: Lessons from IDRC Research

Matthew L. Smith, Ruhiya Kristine Seward (eds.)

Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press; International Development Research Centre (IDRC) (2020), xiv, 498 pp.

"Making Open Development Inclusive: Lessons from IDRC Research focuses on the connection between openness and inclusion in global development. It brings together the latest research that cuts across a wide variety of political, economic, and social arenas - from governance to education to entreprene ... more

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How Many Children and Young People Have Internet Access at Home? Estimating Digital Connectivity During the COVID-19 Pandemic

New York: UNICEF (2020), 13 pp.

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Affordability Report 2020

Washington, DC: Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) (2020), 51 pp.

Africa’s Digital Divide and the Promise of E-Learning Top Insights

Africa’s Digital Divide and the Promise of E-Learning
Top Insights