Decoding inequality in a digital world
A widely acclaimed book, Automating Inequality, alerted us to the ways that automated decision making tools exacerbated inequalities in the digital world.
Inequalities in Digital World are increasing
- Accelerated use of digital technologies: The novel coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the use of digital technologies in India, even for essential services such as health and education, where access to them might be poor.
- Lack of seamless movement of digital education: According to National Sample Survey data from 2017, only 6% rural households and 25% urban households have a computer.
- Lack of access to internet: The access to internet facilities is not universal either because the coverage is only 17% in rural areas and 42% in urban areas.
- The surveys by the NCERT, the Azim Premji Foundation, ASER and Oxfam suggest that between 27% and 60% could not access online classes due to lack of devices, shared devices, inability to buy “data packs”, etc.
- Lack of learning environment at home: A quiet space to study is a luxury for many students but 25% Indians lived in single room dwellings in 2017-19.
- Abysmally low public spending on health: The share of ‘out of pocket’ (OOP) health expenditure (of total health spending) in India was over 60% in 2018.
- Patients are over-burdened due to digi-work alongwith paperwork: The digital “solutions” create additional bureaucracy for all sick persons in search of health services without disciplining the culprits.
Consequences of inequality in Digital World
- Increase in difficulties in registering for vaccination: The use of CoWIN to book a slot makes it that much harder for those without phones, computers and the Internet.
- Lack of data protection laws in India: It is very likely that our health records will end up with private entities without our consent, even weaponised against us.
- Inequalities have increased between firms and between workers: The distribution of both capital and labor income has become more unequal, and income has shifted from labor to capital.
- The interaction between technological change and market conditions as influenced by the prevailing policy environment has been a key factor driving income inequality higher.
- Lack of communication and isolation: The people in remote areas who do not have access to the Internet are disconnected which is similar to urban residents who are disconnected which causes social isolation.
- Barrier to studies and knowledge: The coronavirus crisis has shown the effects of the digital divide in education: teachers and students out of the loop because they lack sufficient technology and digital skills.
- Accentuate social differences: The digital illiteracy reduces the chances of finding a job and accessing quality employment, which has a negative impact on the workers' economy.
Why to promote equality in Digital World?.
- Digital technologies offer leapfrog opportunities and help empower women: The Internet, digital platforms, mobile phones, and digital financial services, offer “leapfrog” opportunities for all.
- It can help bridge the divide by giving women the possibility to earn (additional) income, increase employment opportunities, and access knowledge and general information.
- Women have much to gain from boosting their use of digital tools: The online or video-based up-skilling and tutorials may especially help women make better use of digital tools and extract more value from them.
- Compulsory education helps to eliminate the digital gender divide: The compulsory schooling is crucial to ensure that individuals gain the basic skills and competences needed for full participation in labour markets and society.
- Removing obstacles to adult education is important: It calls for more flexible opportunities for adults to upgrade their skills and for co-ordination across institutions and actors, including education and training institutions, employers, but also social policy institutions.
Measures to be implemented for equality in Digital World
- Revitalize Competition for the Digital Age: The competition policies should be revamped for the digital age to ensure that markets continue to provide an open and level playing field for firms, keep competition strong, and check the growth of monopolistic structures.
- Improve Innovation Ecosystem for Wider Technology Diffusion: The intellectual property regimes need to be better balanced so they reward innovation but also foster wider economic impacts.
- Invest in Skills for a Changing World of Work: The advances in digitization, robotics, and artificial intelligence have led some to draw up dire scenarios of massive job losses from automation.
- Revamp Labor Market Policies and Social Protection: It means shifting the focus from backward-looking policies, such as the stringent job protection laws that seek to keep workers in existing jobs, to forward-looking policies that encourage reemployment.
- Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI): This project, led by an international coalition of governments, businesses and civil society, aims to lower the cost of broadband in specific areas in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Road ahead
- The digital solutions will obfuscate and distract us from the real problem unless laws against medical malpractices are enforced strictly.
- The policies will need to be more responsive to change, which will only intensify as advances in artificial intelligence and other innovations take the digital revolution to another level.
- The Governments should ensure that new technologies are developed within a regulatory framework that prioritizes, protects and promotes women’s human rights.
- The education and training on women’s rights-compliant technology is needed for those designing, developing and using AI in decision-making.
- The gender advocacy must include mandating for responsible gender-sensitive design and use of machine learning models.
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