老龄数字鸿沟根源剖判与数字包容社会构建方略

近年来,数字信息技术革命高歌猛进,随之而来的数字鸿沟、数字排斥及数字贫困使得老龄群体的社会生存举步维艰,加之“数字弱势性”不会随科技更新与代际更迭自行消失,反而会随数字化程度的提高使得数字资源的分布更加不均衡,对于老龄群体会造成更加普遍的歧视。为推进老龄友好型数字包容社会建设,以伦理现实二维框架为分析视角,着重探讨数字鸿沟存在与产生的社会根源及演进机制,探讨老年友好型数字包容社会的建构方略,得出基于强化数字权能、细化社会支持、优化公共服务3个维度从根本上改善老龄群体数字弱势性的结论。     

关于跨越中国数字鸿沟的思考与对策

数字鸿沟牵扯到整个社会的贫富差距、信息资源多寡和资金、文化、就业、生活质量等问题,涉及到国家或地区科技参与能力的强弱、经济的增长方式等更深层次的社会问题.数字鸿沟出现的原因包括国际政治经济的不平衡和不合理,一个国家内的不同阶层或不同地区间存在的经济水平之间的差异性,以及公众在传播技能、已有知识储存量、社交范围、信息的选择等社会因素方面的差异.在跨越数字鸿沟问题上,中国应该树立正确的观念,加强政策的落实,理性地消除数字鸿沟;应大力借鉴国际通行的政策,参考他国成功举措,走有中国特色的信息化之路;应积极响应和参与国际组织为缩小和消除数字鸿沟方面的工作,并为建立国际信息新秩序而努力.在跨越数字鸿沟过程中,我们应当根据中国的国情,尤其是中国的经济实力来制定相应的政策,而不能光凭热情.     

Disability citizenship and digital capital: the case of engagement with a social enterprise telco

ABSTRACT

This paper uses as its base a key initiative involving a not-for-profit organisation (NPO), government start-up funding and a social enterprise which evolved through three phases. The purpose of the initiative was the development of a smart phone technology platform for people with disability. The paper’s purpose is to answer questions about the ways in which the mobile technology, seen here as assistive technologies, supported the development of disability citizenship and active citizenship. Data were collected through in-depth interviews conducted at three points in the 13-week programme during which participants with disability received customised support for their phone and training in its use, at no cost. Fifteen participants volunteered to take part in the research project, along with their significant other and service provider. Key themes were identified in the preliminary analysis. Exploring these using Ragnedda’s ([2017]. The third digital divide: A Weberian approach to digital inequalities. Abingdon: Routledge) three levels of digital divide, and Wilson’s ([2006]. The information revolution and developing countries. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press) categories of access allowed a series of philosophical, ethical and human services management questions to emerge, challenging the optimism with which the digital economy is presented as a solution to issues of inequality. Although the mobile technologies were very successful as assistive technologies for some participants, the findings reinforced the potential for such technologies to further entrench aspects of social exclusion. They also identified ways in which the shift in the role of the NPO to social entrepreneurship, and its relationships with government and private enterprise, had the potential to undermine the exercise of disability citizenship by turning participants into consumers.     

Adoption of ride-sharing apps by Chinese taxi drivers and its implication for the equality and wellbeing in the sharing economy

The adoption of ride-sharing apps is critical to the survival of taxi drivers in the mobile-driven sharing economy. Based on survey data collected from 1195 licensed taxi drivers in Beijing, the authors present an integrated technology adoption model that combines technology and use factors (perceived usefulness and ease of use), social factors (word-of-mouth, peer adoption and subjective norms), system factors (socioeconomic and digital inequality), and audience factors (demographic characteristics and innovative personality traits). The results showed that adoption was innate, inherited, and socially driven. Adoption was positively associated with income, access to technologies, innovative personality trait, peer adoption, word-of-mouth, and perceived usefulness of the apps. The implications of the findings for inequality in the sharing economy are discussed.     

Mapping the two levels of digital divide: Internet access and social network site adoption among older adults in the USA

Older adults have increasingly adopted Internet and social network sites (SNSs), but little communication scholarship has explored systematic differences in access within this population. Using a nationally representative sample of Americans over the age of 50 years from the 2012 Health and Retirement Study, we examine Internet access (N?=?18,851) and SNS adoption patterns (N?=?869) among this sample and explore how these patterns vary by age. Regarding Internet access, results suggest that while the gender divide has reversed in favor of women, older adults who are economically, socioculturally, or physically disadvantaged are less likely to have reliable Internet access. In addition, the view that the various divides in Internet access are less of a concern for those who are younger is only partially supported, as some access-related divides do not vary by age or even decrease with age. For SNS adoption, we found that access to technological resources (diversity of online activities) positively predicts SNS use. Moreover, SNS users are more likely to be younger, female, widowed, and homemakers, perhaps because these individuals are more motivated to use SNSs to complement or compensate for their existing social status. These findings reveal unique challenges and motivations in relation to Internet access and SNS adoption patterns across the later life span.     

Digital skills and social media use: how Internet skills are related to different types of Facebook use among ‘digital natives’

Based on the idea that Internet use can be conceptualized in terms of depth (frequency) and width (differentiated) uses of the Web, this study explored how socio-demographic factors and digital skills are related to frequency and types of Facebook use among young adults. It used a face-to-face representative survey conducted in the three main urban areas of Chile among a sample of 18-to 29-year olds. The results found that men and more educated young people had higher levels of skills, confirming that the so-called ‘digital natives’ are not a monolithic group. They also revealed that digital skills did not predict frequency of Facebook use. Furthermore, lower educated young people tended to use Facebook more frequently. Although these results go against the long-established digital divide research, traditional digital gaps emerged when types of use were analyzed. While more educated and skillful individuals tended to use Facebook for informational and mobilizing purposes, socio-demographic factors and skills did not make a difference in Facebook use for social purposes.     

信息素质教育与数字鸿沟问题探讨

加强大学生信息素质教育是当今信息时代对人才培养提出的新要求。通过国内信息素质文献的评述,分析信息素质教育在缩小数字鸿沟中所起的作用,提出加强信息素质教育是缩小数字鸿沟的重要路径。此外,针对国内信息素质教育过程中出现的问题,探讨信息素质培养策略;通过师资队伍及课程设置两方面的建设,帮助大学生获得终身学习的技能。     

我国区域信息鸿沟测度的实证研究

针对测度我国区域信息鸿沟,运用层次分析法对我国15个省市在网络可接入性、网络使用能力、网络内容应用、网络外部环境4个方面共10个指标进行分析,通过获得各省信息通信技术（ICT）接入、应用水平综合指数和信息鸿沟指数,对我国区域信息鸿沟进行实证研究。结果表明,我国区域间的信息鸿沟是非常明显的。本方法可以在纵向和横向上比较区域间信息鸿沟的状况,由此估计以往ICT发展政策的成功与失败,并用于指导今后的工作。     

中国互联网发展的区域差异与政策治理

中国“数字鸿沟”日趋缩小,是东、中、西部地区内省际间差距的不断缩小的结果;区域知识发展水平、经济生活水平和对外开放程度对互联网发展区域差异的解释力最强,信息基础设施的影响也较显著。我们认为,政府应重点推进中西部贫困地区信息基础设施建设,优化教育环境与人才环境,提高企业电子商务应用程度,给予针对性的政策扶持,进而有效治理“数字鸿沟”难题,全面推进中国互联网均衡协调发展。