Description:

Digital inclusion is a global value. Historically, public policies aimed at reducing the digital divide have been mainly focused on connectivity issues. However, beyond the lack of infrastructure there is a broad research agenda warning about the new forms of exclusion emerging from a world mediated by the massive adoption and use of Information and Communication Technologies. Digital inclusion policy frameworks haven’t properly considered emerging problems related, for example, to discrimination (e.g. algorithmic and data discrimination or surveillance), local content promotion, internet user agency and autonomy, cultural diversity promotion etc, although academic research has pointed out to the overall negative externalities of Internet usage, especially among the vulnerable population.
In this sense, the IGF’s Policy Network on Meaningful Access (PNMA) has been working out a concept related to the challenges of providing access to the Internet and making a meaningful contribution to the improvement of people’s lives locally. The concept encompasses three pillars: affordability, meaningful connectivity, and supportive social environment. All of them, if considered to the development of digital inclusion policies, may produce effects at the local environment in a wide array of possible ways, some unexpected and some undesired. Otherwise, despite affordability and meaningful connectivity concepts have already reached a broad consensus, the third pillar, supportive social environment, require further discussions. Until now, PNMA has already considered to include human rights, digital skills, and local and relevant content. However, other elements are at the core of this debate on the establishment of a scope that meets meaningful enablers for the people in different geographic contexts which can be translate into policy targets.
The discussions carried out at the Workshop #248 “Framing meaningful access for inclusive digital policy” which took place in the IGF 2021, highlighted two key points:
1. The debate highlighted the existence of a divide between government policy and initiatives to circumvent connectivity challenge which are mainly carried out by local civil society organizations, especially community networks initiatives. From one side, this divide can deteriorate public agents understanding of the local communities context and weaken their capacity to produce public policy able to address adequately the issues of local population given that they lose the opportunity to learn with actors involved with community’ structural challenges. From another side, it may also weaken the sustainability of civil society organizations projects which are carried out without the financial and technological support of the State.
2. In this sense, the session also made clear the importance of collecting at the local level inputs to understand what are the key elements to be agreed upon for a definition of meaningful access able to guide the development of public policy oriented to the needs of vulnerable or weaker social groups.
In order to advance in developing the concept of meaningful access, it is essential to take into account the perspectives and experiences of people from communities where Internet has not set its presence yet or, from communities where Internet configuration is not minimally acceptable considering the criteria defined by this very definition. The effectiveness of public policy is territorially dependent. In this sense, beyond improving the supportive social environment definition from a bottom up perspective, it is fundamental to have the scrutiny of people from communities over the emphasis given by meaningful connectivity on (i) the need for 4G-like speeds, (ii) smart-phone ownership, (iii) daily use, and (iv) an unlimited broadband connection at home, work, or a place of study and so on. The involvement of the local community representatives may help to build a concept of Meaningful access intended to promote not only an innovative approach to digital inclusion public policy frameworks but also one which is sensible to the diversity of environments in which communities are settled.
The workshop will bring representatives from vulnerable communities and territories to present the result of an intersectional discussion on the concept of Meaningful Access and to debate with the diversity of actors involved in digital inclusion discussions. The Workshop organizers will present the concept to the representatives of selected communities around the globe in order to provoke a discussion and promote the local contributions to the ongoing debate on the definition of meaningful access and its impact to the production of a supra national digital inclusion policy framework.