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Digital Access, Inequalities & Inclusion

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The Third Digital Divide: A Weberian Approach to Digital Inequalities

Massimo Ragnedda

London; New York: Routledge (2017), vi, 128 pp.

"Drawing on the thought of Max Weber, in particular his theory of stratification, this book engages with the question of whether the digital divide simply extends traditional forms of inequality, or whether it also includes new forms of social exclusion, or perhaps manifests counter-trends that alle ... more

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Digital Access in Africa

Chris Locke, Jonathan Donner, Bryan Pon, Savita Bailur, Francis Hook, Ambacontributors Kak

Farnham (UK): Caribou Digital Publishing (2016), 60 pp.

"The mobile industry has, for the past 15 years or so, done a phenomenal job of connecting users in emerging markets to voice, SMS and Internet access services. But as we strive to reach the remaining unconnected users, we may need new models of connectivity to reach them. In the first section of th ... is document we discuss the need for new Internet access models, and ask the question of what we mean by “Internet Access” and why it’s important to understand what the impacts of limited service and capability are. We then move on to look at the barriers to scaling Internet access, and why, despite the availability and affordability of mobile phones, Internet access remains sub-scale. On the supply side, we discuss the issues around the costs of delivery access, and the difficulty of making connectivity affordable. Many attempts to reduce the cost have been tried, with varying levels of success. From Universal Service Funds delivered at a policy level, to zero-rated services from the private sector, it is important to understand the considerations around subsidizing access for poor or hard-to-reach users. The debate around this is nuanced, as the recent decision by the TRAI to ban Facebook Free Basics in India has shown. Supply side barriers are not easily solvable, and some mix of new industry business models and policy efforts to make regulation fit for purpose is required. Providing affordable—or free—Internet access will require negotiating the original principles of the Internet, the desire for an open and fair architecture, with the real costs of delivering this vision. From a user perspective, even when the available infrastructure enables connectivity, it doesn’t always drive adoption. Users require a reason to go online. A certain amount of this can be demand driven by access to essential government services, but a carrot as well as a stick is required. We have previously researched the digital lives of users in Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda, and have shown how users come online for non-instrumental reasons (social media, games, etc.) but then often use these platforms for instrumental activities such as self-directed education, searching for employment, or sourcing essential information.3 User research can show us how these needs can be balanced, and we discuss this within this report." (Introduction, page 4-5) more

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Digital Discrimination: Political Bias in Internet Service Provision Across Ethnic Groups

Nils B. Weidmann, Suso Benitez-Baleato, Philipp Hunziker, Eduard Glatz, Xenofontas Dimitropoulos

Science, volume 353, issue 6304 (2016), pp. 1151-1155

"The global expansion of the Internet is frequently associated with increased government transparency, political rights, and democracy. However, this assumption depends on marginalized groups getting access in the first place. Here we document a strong and persistent political bias in the allocation ... more

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Mobilities, ICTs and Marginality in Africa: Comparative Perspectives

Francis Nyamnjoh, Ingrid Brudvig (eds.)

Cape Town: HSRC Press (2016), ix, 244 pp.

"The book aims to situate the cultural, social and, in some cases, transnational context of ICT appropriation and virtual connectivity so as to reposition Africans from various countries and contexts as active agents of social change. The intricacies of local ICT use and the dynamics of mobility in ... more

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Digital Inclusion in Rural Areas: A Qualitative Exploration of Challenges Faced by People from Isolated Communities

Teresa Correa, Isabel Pavez

Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, volume 21, issue 3 (2016), pp. 247-263

"This study explored the interplay between contextual and individual factors related to Internet adoption in isolated rural communities. By investigating 10 remote villages throughout Chile that received Internet access infrastructure in 2010-2011, we identified 3 areas in which contextual and indiv ... more

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Last Mile Connectivity in Emerging Markets

Developing Telecoms (2016), 28 pp.

"This report focuses on the difficulties faced by operators in emerging markets looking to deliver data bandwidth cost effectively to challenging locations, including remote communities and busy cities. While the challenges are myriad, improvements in technology are increasingly making the business ... more

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Inclusión digital: Una mirada crítica sobre la evaluación del modelo Uno a Uno en Latinoamérica

Sebastián Benítez Larghi, Rosalía Winocur Iparraguirre (eds.)

Buenos Aires: Teseo (2016), 194 pp.

"En los últimos años, la mayoría de los gobiernos latinoamericanos han realizado esfuerzos destinados a mejorar la inclusión digital en sus países, desarrollando diversas políticas aplicadas en el ámbito educativo. Estas políticas han sido y continúan siendo profusamente evaluadas a través ... more

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Manual de telefonía celular comunitaria: Conectando al siguiente billón
Key Guidance

Erick Huerta Velázquez, Peter Lawrence Bloom

México, DF: Redes por la Diversidad, Equidad y Sustentabilidad (2016), 57 pp.

"En 2013 inició operaciones la primera red de Telefonía Celular Comunitaria indígena en la comunidad Villa Talea de Castro en la Sierra Norte del estado de Oaxaca, en un esquema de red privada y utilizando un segmento del espectro atribuido a uso libre. En 2014, la entonces llamada Comisión Fede ... ral de Telecomunicaciones aprobó una concesión experimental en la banda de 850 MHz en el segmento 845-849/890-894 que después fue ratificada y otorgada por el Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones. Esta concesión experimental tenía como finalidad identificar nuevos equipos para prestar el servicio de telefonía en comunidades rurales apartadas no cubiertas. El experimento, más allá de una prueba de equipos, pretendía demostrar que bajo un nuevo esquema técnico, organizativo y económico era posible prestar servicios de telefonía celular de manera sostenible en localidades consideradas comercialmente inviables. Al finalizar el periodo de la concesión experimental, el sistema contaba con 19 localidades de entre 200 a 3 mil habitantes operando bajo el esquema propuesto, lo que mostraba no sólo su viabilidad sino su posibilidad de expansión a otras comunidades a las que por años les había sido negado el servicio. Asimismo, la puesta en marcha de este sistema había propiciado entre los operadores tradicionales el nacimiento de esquemas que permitían atender a localidades rurales que antes no habían atendido, aunque de mayor tamaño (4 mil habitantes y más). El éxito del esquema dio lugar a un nuevo marco jurídico y a una modificación en la administración del espectro que, por primera vez en el mundo, asignaba una porción de espectro atribuido al servicio de telefonía celular para uso social [...] El presente manual es el resultado de dos años de investigación en los que, a partir de la sistematización de la experiencia, se identificaron elementos esenciales presentes en el modelo que posibilite a otros interesados la aplicación de un modelo similar en otras regiones de México o incluso en otros países. El manual está dirigido tanto a diseñadores de política pública, emprendedores sociales y comunidades interesadas en instrumentar el modelo de Telefonía Celular Comunitaria para atender necesidades de comunicación en zonas apartadas y distantes." (Presentación, página 5-6) more

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Ericsson Mobility Report

Ericsson (2016), 31 pp.

"In this Ericsson Mobility Report, we continue to describe the evolution towards the Networked Society. Between 2015 and 2021, the Internet of Things (IoT) is expected to increase at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23 percent, making up close to 16 billion of the total forecast 28 billion ... more

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Medienbildung und Teilhabegerechtigkeit: Impulse der Publizistischen Kommission der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz zu den Herausforderungen der Digitalisierung

Bonn: Deutsche Bischofskonferenz (2016), 30 pp.

"Eine umfassende Medienbildung ermöglicht es, die Prinzipien der katholischen Soziallehre auch in Bezug auf digitale Medien wahrzunehmen. Einzelne wie gesellschaftliche Gruppen können so zu einem souveränen Umgang mit Phänomenen der Digitalisierung wie mit digitalen Medien befähigt werden. Medi ... more

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Digital Divides: The New Challenges and Opportunities of E-Inclusion

Kim J. Andreasson (ed.)

Boca Raton et al.: CRC Press (2015), xxviii, 300 pp.

"The rapid development of the information society has accentuated the importance of digital divides, which refer to economic and social inequalities among populations due to differences in access to, use of, or knowledge of information and communication technologies (ICT). This book discusses the cu ... more

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Keystones to Foster Inclusive Knowledge Societies: Access to Information and Knowledge, Freedom of Expression, Privacy, and Ethics on a Global Internet

Paris: UNESCO (2015), 107 pp.

"UNESCO’s vision of universal Knowledge Societies builds on a free, open and trusted Internet that enables people to not only have the ability to access information resources from around the world, but to also contribute information and knowledge to local and global communities. What can UNESCO do ... more

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Bridging the Gender Gap: Mobile Access and Usage in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. Connected Women 2015

Shireen Santosham, Dominica Lindsey

GSMA; Altai Consulting (2015), 128 pp.

"Women on average are 14% less likely to own a mobile phone than men, which translates into 200 million fewer women than men owning mobile phones. Women in South Asia are 38% less likely to own a phone than men, highlighting that the gender gap in mobile phone ownership is wider in certain parts of ... more

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ICT Facts and Figures

Geneva: ITU (2015), 8 pp.

"In 2015 there are more than 7 billion mobile cellular subscriptions worldwide, up from less than 1 billion in 2000. Globally 3.2 billion people are using the Internet of which 2 billion are from developing countries. ICTs will play an even more significant role in the post 2015 development agenda a ... more

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India's Gender Digital Divide: Women and Politics on Twitter

Sydney Anderson

New Delhi: Observer Research Foundation (ORF) (2015), 8 pp.

"This study explores the spatial politics of Othering and whether women are marginalized in political conversations online in India. It's methodology consists of an analysis of 23,350 tweets over an eight-day period. It shows a significant underrepresentation of women in Twitter's political conversa ... more

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Centroamérica, democracia desconectada: Balance regional de un ecosistema digital enfrentado con la libertad de expresión y el derecho a la comunicación

Andrea Cristancho, Carlos Augusto Barrera Cuesta, Juan Carlos Sánchez Mejía et al.

San Salvador: Fundación Comunicándonos (2015), 300 pp.

"No existe duda alguna que el desarrollo de las TIC representa una oportunidad indiscutible para el ejercicio de la libertad de expresión y el derecho a la comunicación, pues permiten que la ciudadanía tenga un rol protagónico en el desarrollo de los procesos de comunicación e incidencia en las ... more

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The Global Digital Divides: Explaining Change

James B. Pick, Avijit Sarkar

Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer (2015), xxix, 386 pp.

"This book analyzes extensive data on the world’s rapidly changing and growing access to, use and geographies of information and communications technologies. It studies not only the spatial differences in technology usage worldwide, but also examines digital differences in the major world nations ... more

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Wissenskluft und Digital Divide

Nicole Zillien, Maren Haufs-Brusberg

Baden-Baden: Nomos (2014), 121 pp.

"Der Band gibt eine fundierte, knappe und anschauliche Einführung in die theoretischen Grundlagen, methodischen Zugänge, empirischen Befunde und gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhänge der Wissenskluftforschung. Diese geht von wachsenden Wissensdifferenzen zwischen statushöheren und -niedrigeren Gruppi ... more

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Broadband Networks in the Middle East and North Africa: Accelerating High-Speed Internet Access

Natalija Gelvanovska, Michel Rogy, Carlo Maria Rossotto

Washington, DC: World Bank (2014), xxi, 192 pp.

"[This publication] re-emphasizes the important contribution that broadband Internet can make and assesses the status of existing infrastructure in at least 18 MENA countries. While there is significant potential across the region, the take-up of broadband Internet has been slow and the price of bro ... more

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Global Internet Report 2014: Open and Sustainable Access for All

Geneva: Internet Society (2014), 144 pp.

Manual de telefonía celular comunitaria: Conectando al siguiente billón Key Guidance

Manual de telefonía celular comunitaria: Conectando al siguiente billón
Key Guidance