It’s time to take Digital Literacy seriously
“Technology literacy, and a strong basis in computer science, can be a powerful way to empower the most marginalized, most needy people in society.”
This quote describes both the challenge and opportunity succinctly — providing skills to empower is an emerging key to economic prosperity.
Who is at risk of Digital Exclusion?
Inspired by meeting young entrepreneurs and teachers recently I wrote about Preparing for the Future of Work which is one aspect of the challenge facing society — a skilled, capable workforce for all businesses and roles, not just the Digital Technology industry.
The larger, rapidly emerging challenge, is ensuring all citizens are digitally included which requires a level of digital literacy, access to technology, access to the internet and a fundamental level of trust.
As we transition services online we run the risk of disenfranchising our ageing population who aren’t necessarily “digital natives”, those in lower or fixed incomes often in low socio-economic communities, rural citizens, disabled citizens and many others. Here in New Zealand the government issued a paper on digital inclusion and defined who is at risk of digital exclusion in the “Digital New Zealanders: Pulse of our Nation” report which aligns with, and references international research.
What can Digital Literacy achieve?
In the Digital Skills for a Digital Nation Report we have identified a rapidly growing demand for skilled Digital Technology workers and a workforce shortage — where the Median salary is $82,000 vs the New Zealand Median Salary of $48,800 (source Stats labour market earnings).
In addition to higher pay rates, tech employees also receive excellent benefits with 41% having flexible working hours, 27% a phone allowance, 25% paid training, 23% healthcare and 22 % are eligible for bonuses.
Access to jobs: Entry level roles in retail, distribution, transport, manufacturing — all industries to be fair — increasingly require a minimum level of digital literacy to operate the systems and processes.
Reduce cost: It’s not just the workplace where digital literacy is becoming mandatory. Many utility companies charge fees for any transactions not undertaken online (if you post a cheque to pay a bill for instance), some banks charge a “teller” fee to recoup the cost of placing a human in a branch. These costs are being transferred to those who often can least afford it.
Access to services: Accessibility to services is another digital literacy and equitable access to technology challenge. Paying bills is just the tip of the iceberg, our Government is actively moving their core services to be online applying for a passport or registering a birth for instance.
What can we all do?
There is no question equitable access to technology, raising digital literacy and engendering trust in providers are complex challenges. There are however things each of us can do at a localised level.
Advocate within your community: We all have opportunities to share our experiences within our own communities, include raising digital literacy, how segments of society are being left behind and the impact this is having. Encourage people to upskill and describe the benefits of doing so, encourage your local school to incorporate more digital technology into their curriculum too.
Talk to your employer: If you work for one of the larger companies struggling to balance cost-to-service with customer experience try to remind them of the perspective many customers without online access or digital skills will have as a result of their changes and suggest omni-channel pathways for engagement. You can also encourage your employer to support initiatives designed to raise digital literacy.
Volunteer! Volunteering is gratifying, impactful and there are so many initiatives you can get involved with. Many, like Code Club Aotearoa who I volunteer for, suffer from demand outstripping their volunteer workforce.
With Code Club you only need to donate 1 hour per week to work with 1 teacher and their class full of eager kids, or with other volunteers in a community centre or library.
Digital Literacy won’t be optional soon
Some businesses are realising productivity gains through replacing repetitive manual activities and automating human centric calculations, other business models are facing rapid disruption and obsolescence — from taxis to retailers and clinical diagnosis. This will all impact the skills required to participate in the workforce and society.
I can see this as an issue we can easily ignore — unless you personally live on a fixed income without a smartphone or a computer in your home it’s hard to conceive what life with access to technology or the skills to interact with it might be like.
This is a collective challenge with collective benefit, we all need to give engage in this, get involved and make a difference.
“We live in a great country so helping every New Zealander reach their potential in life is something we can all aspire to achieve”. You can find Victoria on LinkedIN or Twitter.