Social Inclusion through ICT: Identifying and Overcoming Barriers to ICT Use

• Author: Dan Taylor,Gary Packham
• Published date: 01 January 2016
• Date: 01 January 2016
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/jsc.2046

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Strat. Change 25: 45–60 (2016)

Published online in Wiley Online Library

(wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/jsc.2046

Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Strategic Change: Briengs in Entrepreneurial Finance

Strategic Change

DOI: 10.1002/jsc.2046

Social Inclusion through ICT: Identifying

andOvercoming Barriers to ICT Use1

Dan Taylor

University of South Wales, UK

Gary Packham

Anglia Ruskin University, UK

Creative approaches to ICT training and development can help to overcome barriers

to ICT adoption and usage, leading to increased social inclusion.

A literature review was conducted to identify the underlying government policy

related to digital inclusion. is is presented in the following section to underline

the driving force behind, and the importance of, digital inclusion as a means to

social inclusion. e review outlines some of the barriers to digital inclusion

experienced, which dispels the early thoughts that infrastructure was the key

barrier to inclusion. Leading on from this, literature was identied that provides

an insight into some of the more creative approaches to digital inclusion.

Although a large focus of social inclusion/exclusion literature and policy is

based on the time period after the election of the Labour government in 1997

(to be discussed further below), Beveridge (1942), who is termed by Glendenning

et al. (2002) as the founder of the Welfare State, indicated that there was coopera-

tion between public and voluntary agencies to help support the post‐war redevel-

opment of deprived and/or damaged communities. In a later publication, Roo

(1957) goes further back, citing the Poor Law of 1601, where local parishes and

institutions worked together to help the poorer members of their community, a

view supported by Wistow (1982), who stated similar ndings back to the original

Poor Law of 1601 and its Amendment Act in 1834. Furthermore, Silver (1994)

saw discussion moving away from poverty toward using terms such as social exclu-

sion during the early 1990s.

Despite the issue of social inclusion/exclusion being debated for some time,

Mervyn et al. (2014), in support of the ndings of Levitas (2005), identied the

election of the Labour government in the UK in 1997 as the key change in focus

toward the development of exclusion strategies. ese strategies, they argue, were

developed to help alleviate the problems of those in society who lacked access to

1 JEL classication codes: M00, R50.

The focus of UK government to

move toward systems of e‐

government and online public

service provision has led to a need

for ICT skills development in the

most socially excluded.

Those members of society who are

most socially excluded often lack

the technical skills required to

access the online services they

require, building further barriers

to inclusion and engagement.

The use of creative approaches to

ICT training, making content

relevant and personal to the user,

increases the use and long‐term

adoption of ICT, thereby leading

to greater levels of social

inclusion.

46 Dan Taylor and Gary Packham

Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Strategic Change

DOI: 10.1002/jsc

a variety of public services and facilities. However, Selwyn

(2002) believed that the exclusion strategies, which were

largely driven by European government statements, put

the onus more on the individuals and communities

lacking skills rather than structural or societal problems.

ese key issues in the development of the social exclusion

strategies intersect with a time when ICT and the ‘infor-

mation age’ (Mervyn et al., 2014:1088) were becoming a

more prevalent discourse, and links between the two

were developed (Selwyn, 2002; Pleace, 2007; Hardey and

Loader, 2009).

During this same time period, the UK government

pushed the agenda to move toward a system of e‐eovern-

ment (Cabinet Oce, 1999), following the Prime Minis-

ter’s announcement in 1997 that the target 25% of

government services should be carried out electronically

by 2002 (Beynon‐Davies, 2005). e Cabinet Oce

report in 1999, and the subsequent revision in 2000

(Cabinet Oce, 1999, 2000), revised these targets to an

ambitious 100% electronic service delivery by 2008. is

government objective is the key moment leading to the

requirement to overcome social problems with the use of

ICT. Authors such as Silcock (2001) saw this as an oppor-

tunity to exploit new technologies to reshape and trans-

form the relationship between government and customers

or service users, providing both improved eciency and

service quality. is drive toward online service delivery

prompted national and regional government to address

the imbalance of technology skills as a key factor in the

battle against social exclusion and a way to bridge the gap

in the ‘digital divide’ (Oce of the Deputy Prime Minis-

ter, 2005). e Welsh Assembly Government (2007,

2010), in their ‘Delivering Digital Inclusion’ strategy

documents, acknowledged the importance of this agenda,

both as a way of addressing social justice and social inclu-

sion, emphasizing that digital literacy skills will become

equal to reading and writing skills.

In 2007 (reiterating the issue in 2010), the Welsh

Assembly Government (WAG) provided funding to

address the digital divide in Wales, pointing out that the

most socially excluded members of society are also the

most likely to be digitally excluded and yet more likely

to require the use of the services being delivered online.

e WAG identied four priority groups who were per-

ceived as most excluded, both digitally and socially

(Older People; Tenants in Social Housing; Unemployed,

Low Waged, and Economically Inactive; and People with

Disabilities), stating that the use of the Internet can

enhance these groups’ lives (Welsh Assembly Govern-

ment, 2010). is statement highlights the key problem

faced by the most vulnerable groups in society; the very

services they require will be dicult for them to access

due to a lack of ICT skills. Seddon and O’Donovan

(2013) highlight an e‐government issue, in particular the

online delivery of the Universal Credit benets system

(Department for Work and Pensions, 2014), which they

state is destined to failure due to the most vulnerable

groups being those who most need support in using and

learning the system (Mervyn et al., 2014). ey also

highlight problems with the ‘digital by default’ approach

(Cabinet Oce, 2013), which the government has

adopted, suggesting that online services will be so easy to

use, those who can do so, will use them. e problem

was further highlighted by Hope (2014), who reported

the comments of Cabinet Oce Minister Francis Maude.

e Minister stated that those who require public services

need to ‘get online or lose access,’ providing further evi-

dence of the fears of Selwyn (2002) when the onus has

been passed on to those who lack the skills, rather than

a structural or societal issue. Francis Maude’s approach

does not take account, or address the needs, of those who

‘cannot.’ Indeed, one of the key issues of the drive toward

e‐government is that the ‘digital divide,’ meaning the gap

between those who have the access and skills to engage

in ICT and those who don’t, has potential to grow

(Beynon‐Davies and Hill, 2007; Tapia et al., 2011). e

issues related to this push toward online benets and

e‐government, along with the associated barriers that

claimants and service users may face, are some of the

main matters to be discussed below.