Advancing 360° inclusion

2IDEA 2wo

Learning is an inherently social, environmental, and economic experience. With that comes challenges and opportunities for how to foster change in an equal and just way. Our collective commitment to leaving no one behind brings us closer to achieving this radical inclusion. Placing the digital debate at the center of the societal debate promotes greater ownership for a digital future, while bridging this gap.

SPEAKERS

BA Rodrigo Baggio — Recode/Center for Digital Inclusion

BI Francesca Biasiato — ITCILO

BO Sandrine Bohan Jacquot — Humanity & Inclusion

DI Tomas Diez — Fab Labs FI Andrew Finn — FIT Tech Apprenticeships

HE Ellen Helsper — LSE

HO David Hollands — HP

MA Marco Martinez — Kumoontun NW Nnenna Nwakanma — WWWF

PI Daniel Pimienta — FUNREDES

PO Anne Posthuma — Cinterfor

XI Jian Xi Teng — UNESCO

Widening gap

Access to infrastructure and connectivity

XI Progress of technological development affects marginalized people more than others, due to the increasing divide.

XI There’s a temptation to provide basic or poor quality technology in an attempt to help people on a rapid and massive scale, which will actually be counterproductive and would not help in leveling them up. We need to focus on skills of the future and how they can be brought to vulnerable groups.

PO Vulnerable groups are more likely to abandon processes of digital learning. Vulnerable learners tend to drop out from distance learning in Europe. In the US, the drop out of online learning students is double for low-income students. In Latin America and the Caribbean, large differences between access to the internet in urban vs. rural areas.

DI If we continue to apply the extractive economic principles of the last 200 years to the potential of digital tools, we will fail dramatically.

HO Digitalization is not working for all because it is not enough to equip people with technology. People may not be ready or educated, teachers/trainers might not be able/capable, hence it would perpetuate a widening gap.

NW What we have now is the digitally-enabled and digitally-disabled, the gap is widening every day.

NW We might get to the point where we have digital humanity and analog humanity.

BA Digital inclusion is only the first step. People need to be empowered with the right tools in time and urgently in a post-pandemic world. If not, it would bring forth new problems.

HE Lack of adequate infrastructure will leave disadvantaged behind as digital technology advances, due to the inaccessibility to tools and training relating to digital literacy and skills.

BO Solutions could be computer labs run through solar panels or offline technologies.

PO In LAC countries, approximately 180 million students have been studying from home since COVID-19 started, out of which only 4 in 10 households have internet access. The most impacted are the youth, women, informal workers, rural areas, the poorly skilled, and the poorly educated segments of the population. This means lost

educational opportunities, deepened inequalities, and exclusion.

180M

In LAC countries, approximately 180 million students have been studying from home since COVID-19 started, out of which only 4 in 10 households have internet access.

NW Meaningful connectivity is only meaningful in a meaningful society where all people are considered equal in the society. That is why access to broadband internet

should be a basic human right.

BETTER CONNECTION SPOTLIGHT

Telefónica’s connectivity impact

Nearly 100 years old, Telefónica is a communications company for internet connectivity with 300 million customers.

“Currently, we see investments in urban areas, with a choice of lots of networks. Whereas, people within less populated areas don’t even have one network to connect to. The reason why rural areas have no connectivity is that they are less populated so there is less demand. They have less income so, they cannot spend on connectivity.” - Christoph Steck, Telefónica

In Peru, 2 million people were connected in 2 years, including small villages. However, 4 million villages remain unconnected and they aim to reach them with partners’ help in 2 to 3 years. With the right incentives and policies, everyone can be connected. In Germany, to help rural and less populated areas with connectivity, Telefónica has partnered with Allianz to provide fiber connectivity. The same has been done in Brazil.

Cybersecurity skills shortage and the rise of AI

HO We are more and more unprepared to train people fast enough to meet the accelerating technological needs. We are in a massive acceleration phase. For example, phones that we will have in a few years from now will be 1 billion times more powerful, and in the medical field, robots are trained instead of people as it is much easier and more efficient.

Cybersecurity skills shortage is expected to result in 3.5 million unfilled positions by 2021.

HO

AI AWARENESS SPOTLIGHT

Omnia’s AI escape room truck

With the objective of removing fear around AI, explaining the potential of AI, and raising awareness that “AI is a friend, not a foe,” Omnia AI Lab with the support of multiple stakeholders (eg. school students, universities, city council, etc.) created an escape room within a moving truck with interactive games, puzzles, and riddles.

“AI is the new civic skill.” - Heidi Rajamäki-Partanen, Omnia AI Lab

2M

In Peru, 2 million people were connected in 2 years, including small villages.

Placing digital debate at the center of the human/societal debate

NW The digital divide cannot be taken out of the economic divide, racial divide, gender divide, age divide and discriminations, health issues/crises, etc. The digital divide is a mirror of everyday social injustices. The issue is not digital but humanity.

As long as there are injustices, executive orders to shut down the internet, and denying people of their livelihood (eg. remote online workers), the government will remain untrustable.

NW

FI On a policy level, there is a lot of discussion about connectivity but not much discussion around basic human rights in this space.

PI Digital inclusion is the answer to the digital divide. People think that it is mainly a problem of connectivity but that is wrong – it is much more complex.

We should think systemically. This means that we should shift our view to a holistic approach, where interconnection and synergy hold important places. We must think small, zoom in, moving at the individual level and see the self as a system.

BI

DIGITAL SKILLS SPOTLIGHT

How FIT Tech Apprenticeships Achieved Scalability

Fit Tech promotes diversity and inclusion through tech skills training initiatives for job seekers and young people. They offer apprenticeships with skills training, tech skills and work placement, eligible for incentive in Ireland.

They achieved scalability through the following means: Industry represented board > broad and long-term stakeholder relations > constant focus on skills shortages in technology > promotion of viable training and support interventions.

AI is the new civic skill. Heidi RajamäkiPartanen, Omnia AI Lab

Ownership vs “apropriación/ appropriation”

MA Areas that the digital community should include in the digital inclusion agenda from a do-it-yourself perspective are the Spanish-French concept of “apropriación/ appropriation” and the context of work.

There is no exact equivalent term for “appropriation/apropriación” in English. “Ownership” doesn’t exactly mean the same thing. It means “the one who owns it” but “appropriation/apropriación” is “a process of how one gets ownership of

something.”

“Appropriation/apropriación” is a process, whereas “ownership” is a state. Thus, the importance is not to give people ownership, but to have them “appropriated.”

PI

PI

Coffee break

Take your time to reflect on what you’ve read so far.