About Digital Literacy & Inclusion

Being able to deal with ICT has become a prerequisite for citizens to participate in today’s digital society. Governments, companies and employers increasingly expect citizens to communicate online, for example when requesting rent benefit, renewing their ID, or applying for unemployment benefits.

Theme coordinator Joëlle Swart: 'Being digitally literate is far from self-evident. In The Netherlands alone, an estimated number of 2,5 million people are lacking basic (digital) skills, such as being able to use a PC or using messaging services (Algemene Rekenkamer, 2016). Due to the ongoing digitalization of almost all areas of everyday life, from work to health care and education, these citizens are increasingly at risk of being socially excluded.'

While current interventions for promoting digital literacy often focus on elderly or low-literate adults, there are many other groups, such as young people or employees, that do not necessarily have the ability to critically, mindfully and actively deal with digital media. Yet, in-depth knowledge about how individuals develop digital literacy, what barriers prevent their participation in the digital society, and what conditions promote digital inclusion is still lacking.

Researchers at the UG from various disciplines are working to address this major societal issue, often in collaboration with societal partners such as schools, libraries, child care organizations and SMEs. The new Digital Inclusion working group of the Jantina Tammes School connects all of these parties. By bringing together knowledge from different fields, we can develop more informed strategies for supporting citizens’ digital literacy, in order to foster digital inclusion more systematically.