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The 2021 military coup d’état in Myanmar and the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic commencing at the end of 2019 have had major impacts on the already existing digital divide in this Southeast Asian country. This paper aims to explore the effects of these two events on the digital divide and their consequences on the learning practices of students in Myanmar. Following a broad review of relevant literature, primary data were collected from students in Myanmar about their use of IT for online learning and the outcomes. The raw data resulting from this field research has been shared with stakeholders who analyzed, evaluated, and commented on it during expert interviews. The main findings are: IT usage for online education among students in Myanmar is a matter of major concern. A majority of students nationwide have no access to computers. The IT skill level in the country corresponds to this finding and is only on an average level. Smartphones are more accessible but are often old or of lower quality. Internet connections are available but are vulnerable to disruptions initiated by the military regime. Therefore, it can be concluded that students in Myanmar in many cases did not have the technical equipment or skills necessary to learn effectively through the usage of IT during the national crises. Nevertheless, it can be stated that IT helped and was also supportive in sustaining and improving the well-being of students in Myanmar.

The purpose of this study was to investigate level of teachers’ technological competencies and the effect of teachers’ age, gender, educational level and teaching experience in relation to their technological competencies they hold. Questionnaires were used to collect the data from 139 teachers from selected schools using simple random and purposive sampling procedures. Descriptive and inferential statistics were carried out using SPSS software version 23. The study found that majority of teachers were at the first level of technological competency (KA). It was also found that there was significant difference between teachers’ level of education and technological competencies they hold. However, the study found that there is no significant difference between teachers’ gender, age and working experience and technological competencies they hold at p-value of 0.05, though there were some variations. The study recommends that provision of training among teachers should focus on uplifting teachers from KA level to another levels.

This paper explores Digital Poverty (DP) in England by adopting the DP Alliance's theoretical framework that includes both Individual Determinants (individual capability and motivation) and Circumstantial Determinants (conditions of action). Such a framework is interpreted as an expression of Strong Structuration Theory (SST), by situating the connection between social structure and human agency in an intertwined relationship. We focus on new potential vulnerabilities that are connected to DP in England by drawing on a survey conducted on a randomised stratified sample (n = 1988) of parents aged between 20–55 with children at school. Exploring parents' experience in the COVID-19 era, we identified economic factors and having children with disabilities as important predictors connected to Digital Poverty. Additional socio-demographic traits (such as age and education), parental status, lifestyles and digital behaviours also play a role in predicting some of the determinants linked to Digital Poverty. This paper adds to SST by empirically exploring how individuals use the Internet according to their metabolised embodiment of external determinants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the COVID-19 pandemic information about the transmission of the virus came out slowly and recommended practices changed over time. This made communication media, like the Internet, especially important. Few prior studies have considered how digital inequalities influence information flows. Building on three research streams – vaccine hesitancy, information-seeking, and digital inequalities – we examine how digital inequalities, health media, and mass media affect COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Using representative survey data of US Internet users, our structural equation model demonstrates the importance of digital inequalities and media use for vaccine hesitancy. Digital inclusion plays an important role in public health. It leads to increased health information-seeking, which reduces vaccine hesitancy. Our model presents evidence supporting a comprehensive policy approach to vaccine hesitancy beyond factors like socio-demographics and prior health beliefs to include broader factors like digital equity measures and sources of health information. Where and how people find information on public health issues seems to be as important as demographics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last few years, we have witnessed a surge in scholarly interest and scientific evidence of how algorithms can produce discriminatory outcomes, especially with regard to gender and race. However, the analysis of fairness and bias in AI, important for the debate of AI for social good, has paid insufficient attention to the category of age and older people. Ageing populations have been largely neglected during the turn to digitality and AI. In this article, the concept of AI ageism is presented to make a theoretical contribution to how the understanding of inclusion and exclusion within the field of AI can be expanded to include the category of age. AI ageism can be defined as practices and ideologies operating within the field of AI, which exclude, discriminate, or neglect the interests, experiences, and needs of older population and can be manifested in five interconnected forms: (1) age biases in algorithms and datasets (technical level), (2) age stereotypes, prejudices and ideologies of actors in AI (individual level), (3) invisibility of old age in discourses on AI (discourse level), (4) discriminatory effects of use of AI technology on different age groups (group level), (5) exclusion as users of AI technology, services and products (user level). Additionally, the paper provides empirical illustrations of the way ageism operates in these five forms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes the experiences of Venezuelan refugees in the city of Boa Vista (Brazil) in exercising their communication rights in the context of social and digital inequalities aggravated by the Covid-19 pandemic. This article outlines a perspective on digital inequalities from a rights-based approach, which focuses on granting the right to communicate to those who lack it rather than providing access to technology without highlighting the structural changes that are needed for promoting representation and participation of marginalized communities. Building on online and face-to-face interviews with 12 Venezuelan refugees, we identified three scenarios where inequalities regarding access and uses of ICTs are materialized: (a) reduction of digital communication interactions and affective networks due to the deterioration of connectivity in Venezuela and the suspension of local communication services provided by humanitarian agencies; (b) barriers to accessing information about rights and basic services, such as education, health, work, and shelter, given the reduction of communication channels and the closure of reference centers supporting refugees; and (c) increased exposure to fake news, scams, and hate speech in social media platforms and message apps, generating disinformation and enhancing risks of exploitation and marginalization of refugees.

The further digitization of society during the COVID-19 pandemic had implications for differential internet access and related social and economic outcomes. The pandemic impacted all three levels of the digital divides, as it affected how people accessed the internet, their internet skills and usage patterns. The literature, however, provides only a limited understanding about how these changes are interrelated at different levels of the digital divides. Building on the model of compound and sequential digital exclusion, this study examines the sequential pathways between the three digital divide levels before and during the pandemic, using two datasets obtained through cross-sectional surveys conducted in 2018 and 2022 from representative samples of Slovenian internet users (N 2018 = 814, N 2022 = 802). Path and multi-group analysis results confirmed strong sequential pathways between the three digital divide levels before and during the pandemic, suggesting that despite a significant increase in internet access and breadth of uses, digital inequalities among users continue to persist following the pandemic. Moreover, the interaction effects of age and education on the relationships between the three digital divide levels were found to be almost unchanged, indicating that the pandemic did not affect the role of social inequalities in shaping digital inequalities. • Three levels of digital inequalities before and during the pandemic are explored. • Analysis of two representative cross-sectional survey datasets from 2018 and 2022. • Significant increase in internet access and uses did not lessen digital inequalities. • Almost invariant interaction effect of age and education with digital inequalities. • The pandemic did not reduce digital inequalities spurred by social inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While data is increasingly proffered as the resource that unlocks the promises of the digitalized world, for underprivileged individuals and communities, instead of fulfilled promises, datafication means additional marginalization. Examining these forms of marginalization, this article considers how technological advancements come with ability expectations, and highlights the exclusion and discrimination of disadvantaged segments of the population that result from failing to meet digital ability expectations and reach prescribed data norms. Drawing from critical disability scholarship, we introduce the notions of data ableism and data disablism, which encapsulate privileged ability expectations pertaining to data production and the resulting forms of exclusion that are prevalent in automated societies. Underlining the intersectional nature of data ableism, we discern its two main mechanisms, namely data (in)visibility and data (un)desirability, and document the role of free market ideology in producing and upholding data ableism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current paper investigates gender disparities in digital competence among N=1526 rural middle school students from the Republic of Moldova by employing the Youth Digital Skills Indicator (yDSI). While prior research has highlighted gender's role in digital exclusion, recent studies in both developed and developing countries suggest narrowing gender gaps. Similarly, the current study findings reveal no statistically significant gender differences in Information Navigation and Processing, Communication and Interaction, and Problem-Solving. However, significant disparities emerge in Digital Content Creation [t(1425) = 4.20, p = .000] and Safety [t(1421) = 2.49, p = .000], favoring girls. Boys' lower scores in digital safety warrant further investigation due to potential implications for their exposure to digital threats. These findings underscore the evolving landscape of gender-related digital skills in Moldovan rural middle schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community-based adult learning (CBAL) focuses on improving the quality of life for the most disadvantaged and has a different ideology, methods, and curriculum from mainstream education. This Scottish case-study investigated the main changes that had impacted on CBAL provision in the preceding three years. These were: a reduction in funding for CBAL and its undervaluing by other professions; the impact of COVID-19 on learning and teaching; the importance of CBAL in promoting wellbeing. It is argued that these Scottish issues are similar in their impact to other Western countries; negatively because COVID-19 has exacerbated inequalities in the education available to the least advantaged, and positively in that CBAL practitioners have demonstrated the value of their work especially in addressing digital inequalities and mental health issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Esely: Journal of Social Policy is the property of Hilscher Rezso Alapitvany and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The COVID-19 pandemic acted as an accelerant in many aspects of social life, speeding up existing social trends rather than fostering entirely new behaviors. This was particularly evident in relation to technology use. We examine intergenerational technology guidance--how parents help children, and how children help parents--within lower-income families one year into the pandemic. We draw on nationally representative, cross-sectional surveys of lower-income U.S. parents with school-age children in 2015 and 2021 to compare families' pandemic experiences to an earlier point in time. We ask whether sociodemographic patterns of intergenerational technology guidance changed between 2015 and 2021 and identify factors that might explain these changes. Logistic regressions show that intergenerational technology guidance increased within these families--but also, that sociodemographic differences in parental technology guidance evident in 2015 had largely fell away by 2021. This suggests a "silver lining" of the pandemic period: a key form of digital inequality among lower-income U.S. parents was much less pronounced by 2021. Our findings have important implications for policy and practice in the aftermath of pandemic remote learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We argue here that data literacies and capabilities are an integral part of data justice. Based on focus group data collected as part of a 3-year empirical project research project, we find that citizens remain unaware of key aspects of the digital ecosystem, which exacerbate the power imbalance between big technology (data processors) companies and citizens (data subjects). Citizens feel concerned about the way it is operating, they do not feel confident enough to be able to address that. We find that "networks of literacy" among friends, colleagues, and trusted organizations are crucial for citizens' capabilities. These networks influence citizens' ability to convert their available means into capabilities to support civic engagement and their communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although we have evolved digitally and technologically in the 21st century, disparities still exist in society. The research problem cited for the study is the need to assess the impact of the digital divide in the formation of digital capital, where the already stratified society based on variables such as age, gender, education, and region (rural–urban) will act as moderators to mitigate the digital inequalities for a sustainable world. The research objectives are to explore the underpinning reasons for the digital divide in reinforcing social inequalities, quantify the impact of the digital divide on digital capital statistically, and to evaluate the moderating effect of social strata variables comparatively. The idea of digital capital culminates into five hypotheses for this study as the digital divide impacts digital capital, as well as the assessment of moderating effects of age, education, and region. Statistical tools, specifically frequency, percentage, reliability, ANOVA, correlation, and regression, have been used to test the hypothesis and proposed conceptual model. The social strata dimension in the study revealed a higher variance of opinion. Digital capital is taken as the dependent variable and the digital divide is the independent variable, which shows Beta as 0.591 and B as 0.585, indicating a good relationship of 59.1% and an effect of 58.5%. Finally, the research reveals that there exists a digital divide and, hence, digital inequalities in India need to be addressed for attaining various Sustainable Development Goals. The study has significant implications for the leaders and policymakers to work towards inclusivity by bridging the digital divide and eliminating digital inequalities in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital activism is now considered a widespread form of activism. Studies on its impact and use have proliferated. Most research into this phenomenon has tended to analyze the impact of digital technologies on action and activism. In contrast, this study explores the role of organizations and organizational structures, focusing on internal processes and the functioning of digital campaigning. Based on ethnographic observation and interviews with staff of online campaigning organizations, this paper presents findings on how digital communication and its logic can affect the organization’s internal processes. The paper challenges two established ideas: a) the idea of de-materialization of organizational structures from digital activism; b) that digital platforms tend to support the dissemination of opinions of previously marginalized actors. My fieldwork’s findings demonstrate that the reality in both cases is far more nuanced, with significant identifiable inconsistencies. This research shows that organizations and organizational structures have not de-materialized and that the material conditions of digital activism are key to better understanding this phenomenon and new forms of inequality it might generate.

Lack of access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) is a key determinant of disadvantage among rural and remote communities in the developed and developing world that can limit economic development and obstruct digital forms of social and political participation. In this paper, we discuss how the ability – or inability – to access ICTs affects everyday life in Indigenous communities in remote Sarawak, Malaysia. We focus on social connectedness and on the role of relationships and networks as motivating factors for ICT uptake, for enabling new livelihood strategies and in supporting the maintenance of social networks. The paper is based on data collected between 2015 and 2017 in 20 villages located in the north-east of the state. Methods of data collections included semi-structured interviews, group discussions and participant observations carried out during multiple visits to these villages over a two-year period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Older adults are increasingly using smartphones. Researchers have identified demographic, attitudinal factors and social outcomes related to inequalities in access, skills, and activities of internet use. While this research has been ongoing for years, studies about the digital inequalities related to the use of smartphones by older adults are still scarce, and they rarely have undertaken sociocultural comparisons of usage. This article builds on an analysis of tracking data of older adults' (pp. 55–79) smartphone use, to explore digital inequalities around traditional axes of inequality and sociocultural factors that shape older adults' smartphone use. It adds a comparative perspective for understanding emerging inequalities related to sociocultural contexts to the existing literature. The results show that differences cannot be explained solely by sociodemographic factors, but also possibly by national policies and culture. Particularly, age, on its own, is not able to explain the differences reported. Older adults engage in a range of different activities on their smartphones, and differences between groups across the traditional axes of inequalities do not mirror exactly the differences found in previous research on internet use. This is important considering the risk of emerging new inequalities and the ongoing revisiting of policies to mitigate them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

E-government offers opportunities for improving the interactions between citizens, governmental and public institutions, private sector organizations, and public employees. Despite this, the take-up of e-government services has been vastly uneven in many societies with considerable digital divides existing. This study identifies the determinants of use of e-government in Spain through an analysis of the Survey on Equipment and Use of information and Communication Technologies in Households. A Path Analysis Model was used to identity the variables that explain why almost half of the Spanish population does not make use of E-government and how these variables are related. Two large groups of variables were found to be important: digital skills and trust in the Internet. Digital skills were affected by an individual citizens' resources, such as their educational level and economic resources, as well as by age and gender. Meanwhile, their trust in the Internet was shaped by other attitudes and beliefs – mainly their concern about being targeted by advertising. These findings have important consequences for the design of policies to address digital inclusion across Europe and elsewhere, which need to focus on building citizen's trust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to discuss an ethnography of code, specifically code ethnography, a method for examining code as a socio-technical actor, considering its social, political, and economic dynamics in the context of digital infrastructures. While it can be applied to any code, the article presents the results of code ethnography application in the study of internet interconnection dynamics, having the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) as code and two of the largest internet exchange points (IXPs) in the world as points of data collection, DE-CIX Frankfurt, and IX.br São Paulo. The results show inequalities in the flows of information between the global North and the global South and concentration of power at the level of interconnection infrastructure hitherto unknown in the context of the political economy of the internet. Code ethnography is explained in terms of code assemblage, code literacy, and code materiality. It demonstrates the grammar of BGP in context, making its logical and physical dimensions visible in the analysis of the formation of giant internet nodes and infrastructural interdependencies in the circulation information infrastructure of the internet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Objectives Our overall aim is to analyse the patterns and impacts of inequalities in the access to and use of digital learning technologies in Scottish secondary schools, especially for young people experiencing socio-economic inequalities. Approach Using a novel dataset arising from the Scholar online learning platform (https://scholar.hw.ac.uk/), which (between June 2020 and June 2021) recorded usage data for c.133,000 students in 339 (95%) publicly-funded Scottish secondary schools, registered for Scottish Qualifications Agency exams: National 5 (age 15/16); Highers (age 16/17) and Advanced Highers (age 17/18). We focused on engagement, measured through average page visits and percentage of active users. We used descriptive statistics and visualisation to understand the patterns of usage across levels and portfolios/subjects, and multilevel negative binomial models to ascertain the extent of the variation across schools and its association with deprivation alongside other characteristics. Results We have found emerging evidence of a socio-economic gradient in the use of digital learning technologies, whereby the students attending the most deprived schools (according to SIMD and FSM-eligibility) show the lowest levels of engagement. Overall, engagement varies substantially across all levels and portfolios/subjects, but it is most noticeably higher in Sciences and in rural areas, which may well be unveiling student needs unmet by rural schools. Focusing on Sciences, variations across schools can be large, highlighting the need to understand what makes students in certain schools engage more or less with online learning. Should the data allow it, we will draw comparisons pre- and post-pandemic to explore the differences in engagement across students and schools. Conclusion In light of a widening socio-economic gap due to COVID-19 restrictions, these findings will help policymakers and practitioners better understand digital inequality, to assess the impacts of policy measures such as providing disadvantaged young people with laptops, to mitigate digital inequality and improve digital services to improve educational outcomes.

This article investigates the entanglement between socio-economic and technological factors in conditioning people's patterns of Internet use. We analysed the influence of sociodemographic and techno-social aspects in conditioning the distinctive digital practices developed by Internet users. By using a representative sample of UK users and different methods of analysis, such as factor analysis, K-means cluster analysis and logit analysis, this study shows how techno-social variables have a stronger effect than socio-economic variables in explaining the advanced use of the Internet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I explore how social class shapes the conditions and configurations of digital media practice in the everyday life of young people in Sweden. Drawing on Bourdieusian theory and qualitative interview data from two research projects, I complicate the notion of Sweden as a universally wired media welfare state by showing how economic and cultural forces are structuring Internet access and digital media practice along the lines of preexisting social divisions. Invoking Bourdieu's conceptualisation of social classes as defined both intrinsically and relationally, I identify and exemplify two different but interrelated processes whereby class makes a difference in young people's everyday relationship to digital media: class conditioning and class positioning. I conclude the article by arguing that distinguishing between these processes might offer a better understanding of the relationship between class and everyday media practice. The complexities of advancing a welfare-oriented media policy in the age of digital media are also discussed.

This study examines the relationship between mode of Internet access, variety of online activities, and the potential for the Internet to contribute to local social capital in distressed, urban communities. Based on a sample of 525 telephone surveys in Detroit, findings show that breadth of access predicts participation in a larger variety of online activities, which is associated with higher levels of local social capital. Neither public Internet access, home broadband, nor Internet access through a mobile phone data plan alone affords participation in a full range of social capital-enhancing activities. The findings highlight the potential problems of initiatives that assume equivalent social outcomes through nonequivalent modes of access, such as providing Internet access through mobile phones in place of home broadband. Efforts to enhance a city's social infrastructure by providing Internet access are best served when individuals have multiple points of access available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decade, government policies have placed significance on the development of school students' digital literacy as essential to their future participation in society. Yet, assessments of digital literacy continue to indicate that most young people use ICT in a relatively limited way, with varying patterns of digital literacy associated with family background. Drawing on the theory of practice, this qualitative study sought to examine the school-based digital literacy of four Australian primary school students from their own perspectives. Data were collected from home technology experience questionnaires, school-based digital literacy tasks and semi-structured interviews. The results of the study illuminated factors that worked to enable and constrain school-based digital literacy including students' home and school experiences with digital technologies and the different ways that students were able to leverage such experiences. The authors consider the implications for curriculum and pedagogy and provide suggestions for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remote learning has rapidly emerged as one of the most fundamental approaches in facilitating self-directed learning in Higher Learning Institutions. The purpose of this paper was to conduct a bibliometric study on the global trends in research about remote learning during 1961 to 2021 period. A bibliometric analysis of 719 research articles from the Dimensions database was carried out. The VOSviewer1.6.16 software was used to carry out visual analysis of the publications to establish the network and overlay visualization maps. The results indicate that there has been a steady growth of research articles on remote learning during COVID-19 pandemic of which „Polytechnic Institute of Porto‟ was the leading organization in terms of publications. Countries which are most productive include the United States, Russia and the United Kingdom while „Corter‟ and „Kreijns‟ were the most cited authors and „Lima‟ and „Viegas‟ were the authors with highest links in terms of collaboration. Regarding the cooccurrence of key words, it was found that keywords such as „experience‟, „COVID‟, „internet‟ „poverty‟ „interaction‟, „inequality‟, „social emotions‟ and „online interactions‟ had strong association with remote learning. The findings suggest the need for developing countries to allocate adequate funds on remote learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a conceptual model that explores the extent to which various (non)-users can be subjected to mechanisms of inclusion or exclusion. The model consists of eight profiles of digital inequalities, ranging from deep exclusion to deep inclusion, and is based upon a combination of five key indicators at the social level (income, education, social participation, agency, well-being) and eight key indicators at the digital level (access, attitudes, digital skills, soft skills, media richness of the environment, autonomy of use, user practices and social support). This conceptual model, by going further than socio-demographics, (a) allows the formulation of an alternative lens through which to look at mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion and (b) brings a significant contribution to existing research by highlighting the co-action of social and digital indicators in mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disability is a long-standing area of digital inclusion finally emerging out of the shadows. In this article, we argue that a critical understanding of digital media from the perspectives of disability and intersectionality will offer generative insights for framing the terms and agenda of digital inclusion in the next decade. With a focus on the area of automated decision-making (ADM) in social and welfare services, we reflect upon the controversial 2015–2020 Australian government programme widely known as 'Robodebt' that recovers putative debts from support recipients – and we discuss implications for Indigenous Australians with disabilities in particular. We contrast the 'Robodebt' programme with explicit digital inclusion policy on disability in Australia, noting that such digital inclusion policy does not specifically acknowledge yet alone address ADM or other aspects of automation. Here, there is a major opportunity for overdue acknowledgement of disability and intersectionality to spur and shape an affirmative and just agenda on people with disabilities' digital inclusion, ADM and other associated areas of automated technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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M edia market and media-related inequalities in society have been intensively discussed in academia. Yet it is unclear if the online media market environment reproduces existing inequalities, smoothens them or even creates new ones among media offerings and users, potentially reinforcing a social divide. In this study, we test to which extent inequalities found are truly digital-induced or reproduced from offl ine context using the German Longitudinal IntermediaPlus 2014-2016 dataset and descriptive statistics. Based on an integrative analysis we combine the perspectives of German media offerings (supply side) and media audiences (demand side). We rely on the comparison of the genre portfolios of offl ine-originated and online-born media offerings to evaluate inequalities in the German online media market, based on past research, assuming that offl ine-originated media providers primarily replicate their strategic product portfolio from the offl ine media market to the online media market. Using the media providers’ origin, we identify a typology of offl ine-originated and onlineborn media offerings. For inequalities in media use and potentially resulting social divides we refer to research on the knowledge gap hypothesis and digital divide studies. For 2016, we found German online-born media offerings having a thematically contradictory, entertainment-focused product portfolio that balances existing offl ine-originated inequalities. However, it provokes a ‘silent’ de-polarization, with political offerings almost exclusively offl ine-originated evolving into a niche market on the supply side. On the demand side, we found stronger inequalities in the use of offl ine-originated online media offerings by gender, education and socio-economic status. These mainly mirror the inequalities known from the offl ine context. For age, we found uniquely digital inequalities in online media use.

This article contributes to a better understanding of patterns of social support in relation to digital inequalities. Based on an extensive qualitative study, the diversity of support networks and supports seeking patterns are unveiled. A typology of six patterns of help-seeking is presented and described: the support-deprived, the community-supported, the supported through substitution, the network-supported, the vicarious learners, and the self-supported. The article also critically engages with the often unnuanced academic literature on social support. The research and the typology reveal that the quality of support, as well as the availability of potential or actual support, is not only influenced by socio-economic factors. Rather, the strength of the relationship and the level of intimacy between individuals is an important predictor of support-seeking. As such, this article shows that mechanisms of in/exclusion are highly social, as they entail a diversity of formal and informal support-seeking patterns, which in turn have an important influence on the adoption and use of digital media. The article argues that understanding such mechanisms is rooted in reconciling micro-level interactions to macro-level patterns of inequalities. To show the specificity of social support within digital inequalities research, and to demarcate the concept from definitions of other academic disciplines, the concept of social support for digital inclusion is introduced. It is defined as the aid (emotional, instrumental, and informational) that an individual receives from his/her network in his/her use of digital technologies.

The concept of digital literacy has been defined in numerous ways over the last two decades to incorporate rapid technological changes, its versatility, and to bridge the global digital divide. Most approaches have been technology-centric with an inherent assumption of cultural and political neutrality of new media technologies. There are multiple hurdles in every stage of digital literacy implementation. The lack of solutions such as local language digital interfaces, locally relevant content, digital literacy training, the use of icons and audio excludes a large fraction of illiterate people. In this article, we analyse case studies targeted at under-connected people in sub-Saharan Africa and India that use digital literacy programmes to build knowledge and health literacy, solve societal problems and foster development. In India, we focus on notable initiatives undertaken in the domain of digital literacy for rural populations. In Sub-Saharan Africa, we draw from an original project in Kenya aiming at developing digital literacy for youth from low-income backgrounds. We further focus on Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso and Tanzania, where field studies have been conducted on the use of digital technologies by low-literacy people and on how audio and icon-based interfaces and Internet lite standard could help them overcome their limitations. The main objective of this article is to identify key performance indicators (KPIs) in the context of digital literacy skills as one of the pillars for digital inclusion. We will learn how digital literacy programmes can be used to build digital literacy and how KPIs for sustainable development can be established. In the final discussion, we offer lessons learned from the case studies and further recommendation for stakeholders and decision-makers in the field of digital health literacy.

This research brings together digital inequality scholars from across the Americas and Caribbean to examine efforts to tackle digital inequality in Uruguay, Chile, Peru, Brazil, Mexico, Cuba, Jamaica, the United States, and Canada. As the case studies show, governmental policy has an important role to play in reducing digital disparities, particularly for potential users in rural or remote areas, as well as populations with great economic disparities. We find that public policy can effectively reduce access gaps when it combines the trifecta of network, device, and skill provision, especially through educational institutions. We also note, that urban populations have benefitted from digital inclusion strategies to a greater degree. This underscores that, no matter the national context, rural-urban digital inequality (and often associated economic inequality) is resistant to change. Even when access is provided, potential users may not find it affordable, lack skills, and/or see no benefit in adoption. We see the greatest potential for future digital inclusion in two related approaches: 1) initiatives that connect with hard-to-reach, remote, and rural communities outside urban cores and 2) initiatives that learn from communities about how best to provide digital resources while respecting their diversely situated contexts, while meeting social, economic and political needs.

Digital health technologies hold promises for reducing health care costs, enhancing access to care, and addressing labor shortages. However, they risk exacerbating inequalities by disproportionately benefitting a subset of the population. Use of digital technologies accelerated during the Covid-19 pandemic. Our scoping review aimed to describe how inequalities related to their use were conceptually assessed during and after the pandemic and understand how digital strategies and policies might support digital equity. We used the PRISMA Extension for scoping reviews, identifying 2055 papers through an initial search of 3 databases in 2021 and complementary search in 2022, of which 41 were retained. Analysis was guided by the eHealth equity framework. Results showed that digital inequalities were reported in the U.S. and other high-income countries and were mainly assessed through differences in access and use according to individual sociodemographic characteristics. Health disparities related to technology use and the interaction between context and technology implementation were more rarely documented. Policy recommendations stressed the adoption of an equity lens in strategy development and multilayered and intersectoral collaboration to align interventions with the needs of specific subgroups. Finally, findings suggested that evaluations of health and wellbeing distribution related to the use of digital technologies should inform digital strategies and health policies., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Copyright of BMS: Bulletin de Methodologie Sociologique (Sage Publications Ltd.) is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)