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The Digital Divide and the Transformation of Work . Crystal Soo . What is the Digital Divide?. Economic and social inequality between groups of persons Information and communication technology gap More than access issue Information utilization and information receptiveness
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The Digital Divide and the Transformation of Work Crystal Soo
What is the Digital Divide? • Economic and social inequality between groups of persons • Information and communication technology gap • More than access issue • Information utilization and information receptiveness • An economic and civil rights issue • Overcoming the divide: • Infrastructure • Social media
Cybertech & Disabled Persons • 36% of Britain’s disabled can access internet • Bulk of disabled in public service • ie: IT systems, websites • Unite technological capacity growth and disabled • Build accessibility in early stages • Disability Discrimination Act • Beginning to raise issues in public sector regarding accessibility
Cybertech & Racism • Overt racism seems marginal in physical society • Racism exists in institutions, laws, and cultural assumptions • On the internet: • Group polarization • Racist opinions become more hardcore • Getting noticed • Loud and inflammatory opinions • Anonymity
Cybertech & Gender Issues • Cybertechnology educate, inform, empower • Gender gap disempowerment • Low and middle-income countries • Women 21% less likely than men to own cellphone • Women 37% less likely than men to own cellphone in South Asia • UN findings: • Vote on priorities via paper, online, mobile • Paper: 50-50 split • Online: 52-48 split • Mobile: 25-75 split
Cybertech & Work • Nature of work • Communication • Conference calls and email chains • Challenging to get to know partners • Collaboration technology • New way to work dynamic and global • Quality of work life • Evolve technology to make new way of working more human • Mobile work-from-home • Closer collaboration
Surveillance & Social and Ethical Issues • Privacy advocates worried over fine-grained, digital monitoring • Lee Tien, senior staff lawyer: • Companies have few legal obligations aside from informing • Questions effectiveness of such monitoring • Ben Waber, Sociometric Solutions • Privacy policy should deal with consumer issues AND workplace • Workers can opt in to have aggregate statistics collected • Skeptics fear return of scientific management • Surveillance can motivate sales
References http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_divide http://www.theguardian.com/society/2003/sep/24/disability.thinktanks http://www.businessinsider.com/internet-racism-2012-5 http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2014/03/21/how-technology-widens-the-gender-gap/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/unify/2013/12/10/how-technology-has-changed-workplace-communication/ http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/22/technology/workplace-surveillance-sees-good-and-bad.html?_r=0