COVID-19 provides an opportunity to address the issue of digital inequality in Australian society, according to a leading academic from the Centre for Social Impact.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The pandemic, researcher Dr Chris Wilson said, has "accelerated" the process of digital transformation for business and government.
"It would be very, very unlikely that we would see a transition back to offline activities, maybe there might be more of a merger of some offline and online, but I think the online work that has been done is here to stay," Dr Wilson said.
With at least 2.5 million Australians not using the internet, Dr Wilson is calling for a national approach, bringing together not-for-profit organisations, training providers, those responsible for infrastructure and all levels of government, to address the disadvantage caused by a lack of online access and digital skills.
We need a strategy to ensure people can get online affordably, get effective access and have an opportunity to build the digital skills they're going to need not only for a new economy but a new society.
"I think we need a co-ordinating body at a federal level and a policy framework - we have no digital inclusion policy framework in this country.
"We need a strategy to ensure people can get online affordably, get effective access and have an opportunity to build the digital skills they're going to need not only for a new economy but a new society."
While some efforts had been made to address the digital inequality issue prior to COVID-19, Dr Wilson said the main issue was the "lack of co-ordination".
"It has been an ongoing problem and one that has proven fairly intractable. There is a range of efforts being made across the commercial sector, by telecommunications providers, government at all three levels and the not-for-profit sector, but it's a complex issue to get people motivated to get online, to learn the skills to utilise the internet properly, to be safe and secure online.
"We've seen the federal government, in particular, very interested in digital transformation - so, very interested in transforming the health sector and other aspects of the economy into operating in the online space."
Dr Wilson said while resources have been allocated and interest shown in policy-making around digital transformation, there was less attention to digital inequality.
"The problem is the more things you push from the offline space into the online space, the more those that are digitally disadvantaged actually suffer the consequences of that disadvantage.
"Really, it's nice to be getting efficiencies from everyone using myGov or doing telehealth ... but if you forget about the people that are missing out then you create this two-layered society.
"We are calling for a co-ordinated, much more serious approach to try and ensure we don't get into a situation like we are in now, where we are experiencing a crisis and realising a huge proportion of our population are completely excluded from some of the mechanisms that might reduce some of the hardships of such a crisis."
Dr Wilson said COVID-19, though obviously unwanted, provided an opportunity to address the digital divide, which has been widened further by the pandemic.
"It's actually a chance to say, 'we've been telling you this for a long time that this is a problem and now you can all have a look at it in great detail because I think you can all appreciate now that being connected is not just a luxury, it's an absolute necessity'.
"Suddenly, we've realised all of these people that we've allowed to linger in the offline world only are going to be suffering terribly.
"Now that it is here, it really is incumbent on all of the people who can assist in this area to step up and ensure we never return to this kind situation.
"Digital transformation needs to be coupled with a digital inclusion policy - those things should not be separate.
"And, once again, we've seen all of this interest in the transformation, the efficiencies and the economic opportunities as a result and less interest in ensuring that everyone gets to come along for the ride and benefit from that."