COVID-19 has accelerated and broadened the Fourth Industrial Revolution with the rapid expansion of e-commerce, online education, digital health and remote work. These shifts will continue to dramatically transform human interactions and livelihoods long after the pandemic is behind us. This change can provide huge benefits to societies, the response to COVID-19 is full of examples, from the ability to telework to the rapid development of a vaccine. However, these developments also risk exacerbating and creating inequalities.
How digital inequalities are created?
Progress towards digital inclusivity is threatened multiple factors such by growing digital dependency and automation, information suppression and manipulation, and gaps in regulation and capabilities. These threats are causing a number of inequalities as:
Automated biases
Decisions made by humans such as diagnosing health issues, choosing investments, assessing educational achievement and resolving legal disputes are increasingly being made by sophisticated algorithms that apply machine learning to large data sets. In the private sector, more businesses are turning to algorithmic management to track employee productivity. Automating these decisions deepens biases when they depend on black-box algorithms developed using skewed historical data sets.
Malicious activities
The sheer volume of data drives down the cost and ease of using algorithms for malicious or manipulative purposes. Individuals and non-state groups have access to algorithms that can spread dangerous content with unprecedented efficiency, speed and reach. Malicious actors are also becoming more capable of launching misinformation campaigns on a national and global scale—and because individuals and small groups are difficult to track and prosecute, it is harder for authorities to stop the spread of misinformation. The number of countries experiencing organized social media manipulation campaigns increased by 150% between 2017 and 2019.
Accessibility gaps
“Digital gaps”—the differential ability to access data and digital technologies—are widening between and within countries. Internet usage ranges from more than 87% of the population in high-income countries to less than 17% in low-income countries.
Regulatory gaps
Fissures in digital equality are exacerbated by political and geopolitical incentives. Some governments shut down internet access to control the flow of information and public discourse within and outside their borders, or specifically to exclude foreign-based platforms. limits their citizens’ access to critical digital resources.
Capacities lacunae
Automation was already reshaping labour markets, but the pandemic spurred an economic crisis and a digital leap that shrank budgets and time frames needed to upskill and reskill workers. In developed and emerging economies alike, the rapid shift to remote working is expected to yield long-term productivity gains, but it risks creating new gaps between knowledge workers and those in hands-on sectors who cannot work remotely and may lack the digital skills and tools to find other employment in areas such as manufacturing, retail, and some fields of healthcare. Employers facing loss of revenues or the risk of bankruptcy may also have limited capacity to offer financial support to employees. Vulnerable workers—especially in the informal sector, where 60% of the world’s workforce finds employment
What are the impacts of Digital divide?
Disconnected societies
Societies are becoming more disconnected. Populations find themselves increasingly polarized and bombarded with misinformation, and the widening gap in digital ability risks the emergence of a digital underclass. A regulatory backlash to combat this outcome risks further disconnecting societies. A pervasive reliance on complex algorithms that exacerbate inequalities can damage individual well-being and amplify societal fractures.
Automated assessments of criminal sentences may worsen results for vulnerable groups. Within artificial intelligence (AI)-powered organizations, “code ceilings” may limit career opportunities for workers managed by algorithms. skewed databases could lead AI to misdiagnose or mistreat patients. If left undetected or unaddressed, algorithmic discrimination and the resulting societal divisiveness.
Lack of trust
Widespread falsehoods and conspiracy theories hinder civic debate and consensus on critical political, public health and environmental issues. “Infodemics” surrounding COVID-19, for example, have impeded efforts to stem the physical damage from the disease— false information that ingesting highly concentrated alcohol kills SARS-CoV-2 caused over 700 deaths and nearly 6,000 hospitalizations in Iran. Disinformation and misinformation campaigns can erode community trust in science, threaten governability and tear the social fabric.
Threat to democracy and liberties
Misinformation is increasingly threatening civil liberties and democracy. “Post-truth” politics from deliberate manipulation campaigns to the unmitigated spread of conspiracy theories and fake news—are “amplifying hate speech; heightening the risk of conflict, violence and human rights violations; and threatening long-term prospects for advancing democracy”.
Digital Underclass
Blunt government attempts to combat misinformation can exacerbate the problem. Internet restrictions, for example, risk excluding whole societies from the global information economy, while more invasive control could infringe civil liberties. Digital underclass of workers Widening gaps in digital literacy risk creating a digital underclass. Workers excluded from digital resources will miss the educational and employment opportunities constantly created by the global digital economy
Power Concentration
At a time when a growing number of human activities are going digital, individuals and institutions face a heightened risk of losing their digital autonomy. Power is becoming more concentrated in markets such as online retail, online payments and communication services. “Digital power concentration”, could confine political and societal discourse to a limited number of platforms that have the capability of filtering information and further reducing the already limited agency of individuals and organizations over how their data are used.
Regulatory techlash
Governments across the world are ramping up protection for consumers and increasing regulatory pressures on digital markets in response to the potentially deleterious societal impacts of digital dependency and influence. A regulatory “techlash” could confront major tech companies with large fines—up to 10% of global revenues in Europe—along with more governmental control and the possibility of breaking them up. Stronger government intervention in digital markets can empower consumers and users by fostering more competition and regulating anti-competitive practices, but breaking up major platforms can also reduce services overall. Without platform
What steps can be taken to bring ‘Digital Inclusivity’?
Collaborative intelligence
This has been found to yield lasting productivity gains for both humans and technology, while automation for the sake of reducing workforces yields only temporary improvements. Ensuring a smooth digital transition and mitigating the risks to social cohesion from digital divides will require managing innovation without stifling it—for example, insisting on security and privacy by design in the development of new technologies and digital services. Impact studies could improve understanding of the implications of new technologies for societies and human rights.
Building public sector capabilities
To assess the benefits and risks from an accelerated digitalization of social interactions; and to improve the regulation of digital technologies that safeguard user data, entitle online information accuracy and reward innovation the public sector capabilities need to be enhanced. Basic education and lifelong learning can increase digital literacy and play a critical role in closing digital divides. Increasing access to digital content is not enough.
Online learning opportunities
As AI, machine learning and biotechnology evolve, new users need to think critically about the supply and consumption of digital content. The digital leap has propelled worker appetite for online learning and training on digital skills such as data analysis, computer science and information technology. Similar opportunities exist in leveraging digital services to overcome existing and emerging inequalities in health accessibility, affordability and quality. Throughout the pandemic, telemedicine in many countries has allowed patients to continue their treatment while minimizing the risk of COVID-19 transmission.
Governance and Design
More companies are working with civil society on the design and governance of technology and digital services. By integrating marginalized and vulnerable groups into technology development—including those of different ethnicities and genders companies are reducing bias and promoting access to emerging technologies. The business case for such collaborations is that they help to make technology more user-centric and easier to adopt.
Source: The Global Risks Report 2021
Leave a Reply