Perpetuating old exclusions and producing new ones: Digital exclusion in an information society

Abstract

This article presents a study that measures the degree of digital exclusion—or, conversely, the degree of digital inclusion—in Hong Kong, a developed city in East Asia. Governments in the region are among the most active in the developed world in pushing ahead in developing knowledge economies and information societies. The major concern is to improve/maintain their competitiveness in the new knowledge economy created by the process of globalization and the advancement in information technology. Many countries in the region have established themselves in the top ranks of a number of indexes and measurements comparing digital readiness, digital access, information and communication technology penetration, and others. However, not all the citizens in the region share the benefits and promises of the information society. People who are traditionally disadvantaged, such as the elderly and those on a low income, are further excluded from the information society. Such exclusion affects other social groups as well. This study creates a new digital inclusion index to measures the degree of inclusion of various disadvantaged groups in an information society. Data regarding seven disadvantaged groups were collected through a household survey (N = 2,312). The index captures information about access, knowledge, usage, and affordability in information and communication technology of the disadvantaged in comparison with mainstream society (N = 284).