2023-12-28 13:45:00
Digital inclusion professionals have as their leitmotif the transmission of knowledge, know-how and skills linked to digital culture.
Pexels, CC BY-NC
Par Matthew Demory, Aix-Marseille University (AMU)
As part of the National Council for Refoundationthe French government proposed in spring 2023 a roadmap for digital inclusion entitled “France Numérique Ensemble”.
This program, structured around 15 commitments, is intended to be operational until 2027. It leads players in the field of digital inclusion, in particular Territorial hubs for inclusive digital (the intermediary structures aiming to connect the State with local structures), to get closer to the prefectures, departmental and regional councils, in order to put in place territorial roadmaps. These documents will make it possible to organize local governance and determine the levers for action in the territories in terms of digital inclusion.
These relationships with local authorities are not new for professionals in the field. However, a major problem seems to arise concerning the legitimacy and recognition of the work carried out by these actors. Representations on digital inclusion are quite restrictive and tend to only include a question of access to rights.
Going beyond access to rights
Digital inclusion is for many individuals a response to the problem of access to rights in a context of digitalization of public (and private) services: support for the annual online tax declaration, for updating the situation on the Pôle emploi website or to apply for housing assistance.
Thus, in the South region, during the first meetings concerning the territorial roadmap, a prejudice remains in the discourse of certain communities: digital inclusion would only be a matter of support in carrying out administrative procedures online, for individuals distanced from the use of digital tools. And this is not exclusive to departments or prefectures.
For example, houses France Service which replaced the Public Service Houses (MSAP) in 2019, represent places of digital mediation where digital advisors guide citizens in their appropriation of online public services. However, the digital inclusion processoperated by digital mediation professionals for more than 20 years, is not limited to that, quite the contrary.
[Plus de 85 000 lecteurs font confiance aux newsletters de The Conversation pour mieux comprendre les grands enjeux du monde. Abonnez-vous aujourd’hui]
The role of digital mediation
A veritable semantic crusade is taking place on the part of those involved in mediation and digital inclusion to establish their expertise in different areas: media and information education, education to and through video games, employability, digital parenting (support for parents in their digital uses and those of their children), digital accessibility for people with disabilities, awareness of environmental issues linked to the uses of digital tools, etc.
Digital inclusion is a process embodied in an educational relationship enabled by these professionals, having as its leitmotif the transmission of knowledge, know-how and skills linked to digital culture.
These actors (digital mediators, digital advisors, reception agents, media librarians, association directors, trainers, etc.) have the mission of awakening meaning among citizens in their use of tools. digital, to allow them a better understanding of the issues linked to their digital environment.
Several practices to promote digital inclusion
The introduction to basic uses is a fundamental dimension of digital inclusion. Whether introductory workshops on office automation, Internet browsing, classifying documents on a desk, handling specific image editing software, etc., introductory digital mediation constitutes the baba of digital inclusion.
Media and information education is also an old practice of digital inclusion. From creating television channels or podcasts with local residents or schoolchildren, to holding workshops using devices such as board games “Mediasphere” with a view to supporting young people in their use of social networks, numerous projects are implemented in digital mediation structures in order to support audiences in a more informed relationship with the media and information.
Education in and through video games constitutes another example of the diversity of digital inclusion practices. This format can take place in media libraries or during practical workshops with, for example, the objective of developing cooperation using dedicated games. Moments to raise awareness among parents are often organized around the fact that games are not necessarily violent and that their children do not suffer from addiction.
Training and developing the employability of the public also represents an important area of expertise in digital inclusion. Support towards employment (creation of CVs, appropriation of the Pôle emploi site, improvement of applications in particular using video gamesetc.) to the transmission of specific skills (website creation, graphic design, video editing, computer programming, digital marketing, etc.), digital inclusion operates in the direction of the professional integration of citizens.
Professionals also contribute to the search for digital solutions for people with disabilitiesthe promotion of digital arts, raising awareness of environmental issues linked to the uses of digital tools, etc.
For recognition of digital inclusion expertise
A considerable issue of symbolic recognition of the professional group of digital mediation, acting on a daily basis for the digital inclusion of their audiences, is then at work, and this more than ever, in a dynamic of application of public actions being dedicated.
Digital inclusion therefore covers numerous areas of expertise, specializing in multiple fields of action.
Of course, professionals work for access to rights in the context of the digitalization of public services, but also around issues linked to the media, information, video games, training, employment, environment, accessibility and parenting. And much more, digital inclusion presents itself as a lever for the social inclusion of all citizens.
Matthew DemoryDoctor in sociology, specialist in digital culture, ImérA, Aix-Marseille University (AMU)
This article is republished from The Conversation sous licence Creative Commons. Lire l’article original.
1703777306
#digital #inclusion #called