Closing the digital divide: promoting equal access to digital technologies
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly
debate on 23 June 2023 (19th sitting) (see Doc. 15776, report of the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination,
rapporteur: Ms Edite Estrela). Text
adopted by the Assembly on 23 June 2023 (19th sitting).
1. As early as 2001, the Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) defined the “digital
divide” as “the gap between individuals, households, businesses
and geographic areas at different socio-economic levels with regard
both to their opportunities to access information and communication technologies
(ICTs) and to their use of the Internet for a wide variety of activities”.
2. Since then, the continued expansion of the fields in which
these technologies are used has broadened the situations where they
create inequalities, with the Covid-19 pandemic casting a harsh
light on the problem. From the moment restrictions on the movement
of people were imposed, digital communications quickly took on unprecedented
importance in almost all areas of life. Commercial exchanges, contacts
with public administrations, certain types of work, interactions
with family, education, medical appointments: even in spheres where
information technologies had until recently played a modest role,
their place quickly expanded.
3. As the Secretary-General of the United Nations pointed out
at the time, the pandemic made the digital divide a matter of life
and death for people unable to access essential healthcare information.
Today, this divide is threatening to become the new face of inequality
as it reinforces the social and economic disadvantages already suffered
by women and girls, the elderly and the young, ethnic minorities,
socio-economically disadvantaged people, people with disabilities
and people in particular situations such as prisoners, protected adults
and asylum seekers.
4. Today, access to the internet and to the material means required
in order to be able to use it and proficiency in basic digital tools
have become fundamental needs; digital exclusion is a major barrier
to equality. Lack of access to digital technologies prevents those
concerned from accessing public services, education and many of
the opportunities that life has to offer. Awareness of this problem
must spur us to act now to adopt a truly inclusive approach to the
digital realm.
5. People already suffering from inequality and discrimination
and struggling to make their voices heard are left even more exposed
by the digital divide. As policy makers, we stand at a crossroads
today: we can either continue to let technologies exacerbate existing
disparities or harness these technologies to build a safer, more sustainable
and more equitable future for all.
6. The digital transition cannot take place without State support.
In order to ensure equal access to rights in an increasingly digitalised
world, States must take steps to combat digital illiteracy and to
provide effective support to all those who are not proficient, or
not yet sufficiently proficient, in digital technologies. They must guarantee
equal access for all to education and careers in science, technology,
engineering and mathematics, and see to it that everyone has access
to the tools and infrastructure needed in order to fully exercise
their rights and participate in society on an equal footing. They
must ensure that digital technologies, tools and services that are
essential to citizens’ lives remain affordable for their users and
that efforts are made to limit their environmental impact. As it
can prove particularly difficult for some children with disabilities
to follow online education, States must provide the tools and mechanisms
necessary to ensure that these children enjoy equal and unhindered
access to education, particularly in times of crisis.
7. The Parliamentary Assembly further underlines that authorities
have a special responsibility in the digital area when they themselves
set about digitalising public services. In fact, while objectives
such as rationalising administrative costs, simplifying the management
of case files or improving the efficiency or speed with which cases
are processed may be legitimate, under no circumstances must those
who do not have ready access to digital technologies be left behind
in the pursuit of those goals. To do so would deprive them of access
to their rights and constitute an infringement of the obligation
to ensure continuity of public services.
8. The Assembly refers to the texts which it has already adopted
and which provide important solutions in this area, in particular
Resolution 2256 (2019) “Internet
governance and human rights”,
Resolution
2343 (2020) “Preventing discrimination caused by the
use of artificial intelligence” and
Resolution 2144 (2017) “Ending cyberdiscrimination
and online hate”. It also draws States’ attention to General Recommendation
No. 1 of the Council of Europe Expert Group on Action against Violence
against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO) on the digital dimension
of violence against women, which contains crucial recommendations
addressed to governments to ensure that the measures they take to
implement the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating
Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (CETS No. 210, “Istanbul Convention”)
fully reflect the digital dimension of the situations covered by
the Istanbul Convention.
9. In the light of these considerations, and in order to remedy
the inequalities that already exist in this area and prevent the
emergence of new ones, the Assembly calls on Council of Europe member
and observer States, as well as on all States whose parliaments
enjoy partner for democracy status to:
9.1 consider all policies for combating the digital divide
as a priority;
9.2 focus in these policies on making digital technologies,
tools and services inclusive, equitable, accessible, affordable
and safe for all;
9.3 provide strong, structured and sustainable support to
local initiatives that seek to achieve this aim in order to avoid
leaving behind all those who do not know how to use digital technologies,
or who do not want to;
9.4 ensure that policies to combat the digital divide are
accompanied by adequate funding;
9.5 subject these policies to regular scrutiny by national
parliaments;
9.6 remove any obstacles that prevent some children with disabilities
from enjoying equal access to education when the latter is based
on digital tools and technologies.
10. As regards the development of mobile telephone and high-speed
or very high-speed internet services, the Assembly, referring to
Resolution 2256 (2019) mentioned above, recommends that States:
10.1 implement national public investment
policies which are coherent, with the objective of ensuring universal
access to the internet;
10.2 aim in particular to remedy geographical imbalances (for
example between urban and rural or remote areas);
10.3 implement policies for deploying networks that make it
possible to achieve this objective.
11. As regards combating digital illiteracy and ensuring access
to education and careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering
and mathematics, the Assembly calls on States to:
11.1 consider the provision of digital
training for everyone, regardless of gender, age, social status, economic
situation, disability and any other personal characteristic, as
an investment;
11.2 promote access for all to studies and careers in science,
technology, engineering and mathematics, along the lines already
set out by the Assembly in Resolution 2343 (2020) mentioned above;
11.3 provide continuing training and make it accessible, so
that the entire population can enjoy the benefits of digital tools;
11.4 ensure equal access to seed funding, venture capital funding
and the acquisition of business skills in the field of digital technologies.
12. As regards the digitalisation of public services, and bearing
in mind that exercising rights online requires the user to have,
inter alia, an adequate internet
connection, device, storage capacity, operating system and paid-up
subscription, and public services themselves to have correctly functioning
devices, servers and tools that are designed to take into account
the full variety of situations of all potential users, the Assembly
calls on States to:
12.1 move from
a logic of fully digital public services to a logic of full accessibility
of these services, including through maintaining non-digital access
to public services wherever necessary to ensure equality of access
to and continuity of public services and their adaptation to users;
12.2 take into account, from the first steps in designing any
new online service, the needs of and obstacles faced by all potential
users of the service, in order to guarantee equal access for all;
12.3 ensure that individuals always have access to effective
support in carrying out their administrative procedures, not only
to complete and submit online forms but also to get advice from
public service staff able to answer specialised questions about
the rights and procedures in question;
12.4 develop free internet access points and services to support
individuals in carrying out their administrative procedures online;
12.5 promote the development of a chain of production, reuse
and repair of digital devices and tools, provided that they work
properly and are available at an affordable price;
12.6 guarantee to each individual the possibility of correcting,
through simple and accessible procedures, any error in the data
concerning them and in procedures carried out online.
13. With around 3.6 billion people in the world having no internet
access, the Assembly further considers that States must take into
account in development aid measures the importance of reducing the
digital divide as a means of facilitating the achievement of the
Sustainable Development Goals.
