Barcelona Metropolis

When internet access expanded to cover the biggest swathe of society, how internet was used and became what kept us in or out of the digital world began to matter. The digital divide hence started measuring who connected, for how long and for what purpose. By these calculations, we are a connected country in which more than 33 million people use the internet on a daily basis for almost everything. This trend (including the number of WhatsApp users, which in Spain exceeds 31 million) does not seem likely to change in the coming years, so new indicators will have to be proposed to understand the digital society.

Measuring the significant connection we seek to identify gaps is no easy feat. We are dealing with a cross-cutting issue, which can be analysed from any perspective: the economic, social, skills-based, educational, work, territorial and gender point of view. Over the last decade, the European Commission has begun to evaluate these dimensions using indicators in the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), which measures the digital performance of member states. In addition to the conventional dimensions concerning access and use of technologies are those related to human capital. And this is where we find the evolution of what used to be understood as the digital divide: who has the skills to develop fully in the digital economy?

This change of approach has helped tremendously to identify the digital skills of each social group and to confirm the small number of specialists in this field for years now (under 4%, which puts us below the European average). We know, for example, that there are few people pursuing technical studies and that only 20% are women. Competing in the digital job market will be hindered by this knowledge divide, which will be exacerbated by another shocking one, the gender gap.

We have been aware of these vulnerabilities for years and Spain has an ambitious plan to reduce them. The funds disbursed under the Next Generation European Union (NGEU) programme will support the rolling out of the Digital Spain strategy, financed through the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan. One of its goals is the structural transformation of the economy with a clear focus on improving infrastructure, digital skills and territorial cohesion through connectivity.

We have a cross-cutting challenge ahead of us, as social inequality exists in the digital realm, whichever way we look at it. Ensuring nobody is disconnected at a time when much of our activity takes place online is a priority. The further we delve into exploring the gaps, the more likely we will be able to bridge them.

The gaps opening up: teleworking, automation, digital participation, security and gender

In the year 2020 we became acquainted with teleworking en masse. Spain has traditionally been a country that for different reasons has not incorporated this working arrangement and, nevertheless, the lockdowns meant record figures were hit. But the reality is that only one in three employed people has a job that gives them the option to work online. What’s more, not all professions can actually get the green light to do so. Nonetheless, we do know that society would like to be able to choose where it works. An overwhelming majority (almost 80%) have acknowledged that they would prefer to work remotely for four days or longer. And here we bring up common enemies again: people with more educational qualifications and income are the most likely to be allowed to work remotely. In short, telework is not for everyone. Neither because of the type of job done, nor because of the skills required, nor because of the territory in which one lives, nor because of the adaptation of the space to do so… There are people who simply cannot opt for teleworking, even if they want to.

Marital status or living with children are other determining factors that influence access to teleworking, which is an ideal place for inequality. Teleworking is more common among younger people, women and those with strong digital skills. And let’s not forget that teleworking calls for a good-quality connection, which is not always available.

It should also be borne in mind that not all jobs in the country’s productive framework have made or can make a digital transition. Some sectors are far from benefitting from one of the accelerators of the digitisation process, which affects a large number of work-related tasks: artificial intelligence and automation. The OECD estimates that 12% of jobs that only require primary (56%) and secondary (43%) education are at risk of automation. The lower the level of education and income, the more its benefits can be reaped. Having digital skills adapted to the professional setting is therefore especially important.[2]

Some recent studies associate the ratio between digital participation and the participatory gap.[3] The latter is defined as the set of inequalities generated by the uneven distribution of internet uses, where special attention must be paid to the gap in political participation. It can be said that standard inequalities are again palpable in digital participation (income, gender, age, etc.), but socially the negative consequences of the participatory gap are greater because they bear a direct impact on democracy.

What will the gaps of the future look like?

Digital disconnection, digital detox and interacting with humans instead of machines will be decisive aspects in the gaps of the future. All things considered, it seems that not all of us will be able to disconnect voluntarily. We are at a time of such digital acceleration that, precisely for this reason, we need to stop and read between the lines. We must understand that digital inequality goes beyond simplistic conceptions that focus on access to technology; that there is a latent, cross-cutting, systemic inequality; that digital skills have not been randomly distributed, but are the result of preconditions; and that this situation of social injustice must be contained before algorithmic reality perpetuates inequality.

As there is no homogeneous use or equal integration of technology in all public and private spheres, it is up to us to pay attention to how differences influence the make-up of societies. Connection is more than just a phone: its value must prevail, that we can use the internet every day with a convenient device, with sufficient data and a fast connection, and thus use it for whatever we want and not for the purposes established by the roles or stereotypes of a given culture.

We must explore and gain an understanding of how people of different characteristics and backgrounds incorporate technology into their lives; how their skills and their digital and social contexts differ, and how their life processes are transformed depending on all these differences. This information is extremely useful for building a just digital society. Being connected has become a much broader issue than being switched on or off. Part of our life unfolds in digital mode and, those who do not meet a series of minimum requirements to participate in it are excluded from this virtual life. The key to digital divides is to identify the differences between users, because what matters is not reading or interpreting the information, but what we do next, that is, how we lessen those gaps.

This new era of digital inequality is a challenge for all the stakeholders involved, including the State, which has a chance to boost prosperity. How can fully-fledged technological development be ensured, regardless of the population’s purchasing power or geographical location? By creating an inclusive, just and diverse digital society, marked by an effective distribution of power so that it represents a real breakthrough in people’s lives.