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Special
issue of Information Technology and People on:
Living and
Functioning in the e-Society: Issues of Inclusion and Exclusion
Guest
Editors (in alphabetical order)
Mike
Cushman, The
Rachel McLean,
Manchester Metropolitan University (UK), [log in to unmask]
Information
Technology & People is at the leading edge of research focusing on new,
emergent and underrepresented topics, as well as methods and theories for
researching and understanding them. Following this tradition, we are delighted
to serve as guest editors for a special issue that furthers the debate on how
citizens experience the emerging e-society and the structures and skills needed
by citizens to engage in ways that they choose.
Whole
sections of society are excluded from the benefits offered by new technological
platforms. Organisations (both
commercial and not for profit) often fail to engage with entire sectors of their
stakeholders or potential markets. Academic writing and Government initiatives
to address the digital exclusion of some citizens from the benefits of engaging
in the e-Society (also referred to as the Digital Divide), have focused almost
entirely on access to technology. Citizens have been redefined in terms
of the dichotomy of those who are “connected” and those who are “disconnected”
from the e-Society. Manufacturers and service providers are motivated to include
as many customers as they can by finding effective pricing models. However,
affordability and access to technology, or being “connected”, alone does not
necessarily bring effective use. Recognition of this issue stimulates a debate
much wider than the simplistic attribution of exclusion from the “e-society” to
socio-economic inequalities alone. Customer support and training initiatives, or
strategies for inclusion need further investment. While private companies
have discretion over their customer base, public sector bodies are required to
serve their entire constituency (although they do not necessarily fulfil that
duty).
From
another perspective, there is an almost universal and uncritical assumption that
access and involvement are “good things” and all options for living outside the
e-society are inferior or even deviant. This assumption disregards the
experiences of those who choose not to engage with technology, excluding
themselves because they do not have technology related jobs, or because they are
able to request or direct others to engage on their behalf. Can the private
sector gain from “incentivising” engagement for these citizens? Further,
enforced enrolment promotes the interests of commercial and public sector
service providers and clearly has the potential to benefit many if not most
citizens. However, a significant question arises: is there a minority whose
interests are not served by enrolment? If so, do they experience any negative
effects?
The
effects of ICTs (and particularly internet based ones) on access to services are
contradictory. On the one hand they potentially enhance access to information
and communication; on the other they may further exclude those who cannot gain
physical access to equipment or lack the skills, interest or disposition to use
it. For example, while eGovernment channels may claim to ease access to services
for people who are housebound through disability or caring responsibilities,
those who cannot utilise these new channels may find existing routes degrade
through insufficient attention and investment (e.g. the
UK switch off of analogue TV in favour of digital TV forcing customers to
upgrade hardware and navigate an increasingly complex system). Further, those
who can gain access may experience information overload or incompleteness,
security issues, or technical and navigational problems leading to frustration
and a lack of effective engagement. “Digital” or “e” citizens need not only
skills and knowledge, but responsive and supportive service provision currently
lacking in both public and private spheres of e-citizenship. It is significant
that ICT training tends to focus on skills for work
rather than skills for life (e.g. European Computer Driving
License).
The
purpose of this special issue is to widen the debate surrounding participation
in the eSociety, shifting the focus from simplistic notions of access to equity,
skills, knowledge, motivations and incentives, and appropriate service provision
and support.
For this special issue,
we welcome theoretical and empirical work that explores the complex issue of
effective engagement in the e-Society. Research employing innovative research
methods will be especially welcome. Topics include, but are not limited
to:
• The
skills and resources required for participation in the
e-society.
• Policies
for the promotion of ICT/media e-literacy and the effects of
illiteracy.
• Policies and infrastructures for universal ICT
access.
• Availability of, and engagement with, electronic services
(including e-Government,
e-Health services, and private or commercial
services).
• Effects
of e-services on reducing or increasing inequality and the inter-relationships
between
digital and social exclusion.
• Public
sector strategies for electronic inclusion.
•
Commercial and not-for-profit organisational models, pricing strategies and
support initiatives for inclusion.
•
Provision of electronic services through more familiar devices (e.g. iTV,
SMS)
•
Individual perceptions of internet risks and dangers, and strategies
of managing and living with these
risks.
• Social
and organisational strategies in the design and use of electronic services (e.g. service support,
infomediaries, social capital).
•Individual
perceptions of internet risks and dangers, and strategies of managing and living
with these risks.
• The
experiences of non-users of electronic channels and
services.
•
Methodologies and epistemologies for researching the experience of living in the
e-society.
Submission
Guidelines:
Manuscripts
should be submitted via the electronic submission system applied by the journal
Information Technology and People, for details see http://www.itandpeople.org The
manuscript must be in Word format. Manuscripts will be screened by the guest
editors prior to review. The normal IT&P standards of reviewing are applied
for Special Issues which includes double blind reviewing. Manuscripts must be
original and not have been published elsewhere.
Please
direct inquiries to the Guest Editors:
Rachel
McLean
Mike Cushman
+44 (0)
161 247 3791 voice
+44 (0) 20 7955 7426 voice
[log in to unmask]
[log in to unmask]
Important
Dates:
Call
17th October
2006
Submission
of first manuscripts:
23rd April 2007
Initial
review period:
23rd April – 3rd September
07
Notification
to authors:
17th September 07
Subsequent
revision review period:
17th Sept – 17th December 07
Guest
editors submit completed edition to IT&P
9th January 2008
Date of
publication
June 2008