The importance of technology in modern societies is indisputable. More and more companies and governments are moving to provide services exclusively online, and digital literacy has become almost as important as traditional literacy. Gender, age, disability, socio-economic circumstances and ethnic origin are already major factors of discrimination in this field, and those with the least access to digital technologies face increasing inequalities in accessing and exercising their rights.
The Covid-19 pandemic has moreover accelerated the process of digital transformation of societies, deepening these inequalities and widening the gap between "connected" and "unconnected" members of our societies.
It is our responsibility to ensure that instead of creating barriers, digital technology and the internet become enablers for everybody. Collaboration between different parts of society is crucial to address this gap.
The Parliamentary Assembly should conduct research into the extent of discrimination in access to technology based on gender, age, disability, socio-economic background, ethnic origin and other relevant factors and make recommendations to member States on how to overcome the digital divide.