Digital Exclusion

I’m getting ready to help facilitate at session at next weeks Nethui on ‘Digital Inclusion & UFB Uptake’, which has got me thinking.

What is it that currently excludes people from being able to participate in the digital world ?

it occurs to me that there are really only three reasons:

   1.   Choice – they actively choose not to participate for many reasons, some could be cultural or religious, some could be attitudinal and for some it could simply be the desire for a simpler life.

   2.   Access – they may live in physical locations where access simply isn’t possible or the access they can get is inadequate for full participation. This is the case for our rural, remote and under served communities.

   3.   Cost – we have a large number of households (estimates range between 23 & 27% roughly 1:5)

So it is a major issue, what can we do about it?

Feel free to engage in the comments box, is this a personal choice issue, is there a role for government ( both central & local)? Is there something completely out of the box, like pre-pay UFB

How important is inclusion? Will it be a bigger deal as the world becomes more data rich and hyper connected?