Transcript The Digital Divide and the Transformation of Work Brian McFarlane What is does “digital divide” mean? The difference in a population’s ability to access.

The Digital Divide and
the Transformation of
Work
Brian McFarlane
What is does “digital divide” mean?
The difference in a population’s ability to access and use or have knowledge of communication
devices and internet.
inequalities with regard to:
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Socio-economic levels
Households
Businesses
Geographic Areas
Implications of the digital divide
Obligations to make cyber technology
accessible to disabled persons
• Ethical responsibility with the interpretation that access to internet is a
human right
• Some legal action on behalf of disable with regard disable person:
I. The Equality Act 2010 (EQA)
Has the widespread use of cybertechnology helped
reduce racism, or does it exacerbate it?
Factors that exacerbate it:
Group polarization
Anonymity
Factors that help reduce it:
Our overall culture marginalizing racists
Openness and diverse online communities
What implications does cybertechnology
have for gender issues?
• “In low and middle-income countries, a woman is 21 percent less likely than a man to own a
mobile phone, according to research done by GSMA. In Africa, women are 23 percent less
likely than a man to own a cell phone. In the Middle East the figure is 24 percent and in
South Asia, 37 percent”
• “By 2020 there will be 1.4 million jobs in computing fields, but women are on track to fill
only 3 percent of those jobs.”
• The “Girls Who Code” program and programs like it empowering underrepresented
individuals
How has cyber technology transformed the
nature of work?
• Crowdsourcing has led to more remote work
• More autonomy and innovation on the employee’s part leads to managerial
positions becoming more complex
• Collaboration technology improving productivity
Cybertechnology effects on the quality of
work life
• Effective monitoring and research leading to more efficiency in the
workplace which can result in better employee and customer satisfaction
• As previously mentioned collaborative technology improvement can lead to
more job satisfaction.
Social and ethical issues surveillance in the workplace
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Distrust in the employer-employee relationship
Return of Taylorism
Violation of privacy
Can lead to dismissal for comments made on social media and overmanagement of employees