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Social inclusion in the
Information Society

The INSINC Working Party

INSINC, the national working party on social inclusion in the information society, was set up by IBM in collaboration with Community Development Foundation in 1995, to examine the impact of new information technology on local communities, and the potential for greater social inclusion of people in communities within the information society.

The working Party has used the following definition of the information society as a basis for its work: a society characterised by a high level of information intensity in the everyday life of most citizens and in most workplaces; and by the use of common or compatible technology to generate, store, manipulate and transfer information, for a wide range of personal, social, educational and business activities.

A socially-inclusive information society:

• will have ready, easy-to-use public and individual access to the communication channels without heavy dependence on private or public agencies as intermediaries
• will ensure that the kinds of information which are essential for day-to- day life, for full participation in society, and for support in times of need, are easily available at no cost or at very low cost
• will invest heavily in the information handling and communication skills of its citizens, raising their levels of information awareness, competence in discriminating when faced with large quantities of information, and ability to exploit information.

The members of the Working Party are as follows:

• Chair Jo Habib, Funderfinder
• Samantha Hellawell, IBM UK
• Debby Matthews, Hastings and Rother Information Initiative
• Dr Janie Percy-Smith, Policy Research Institute, Leeds Metropolitan University
• Dr John Taylor, British Telecom
• Bill Thompson, New Media Project, The Guardian
• Secretary Kevin Harris Community Development Foundation

60 Highbury Grove
London N5 2AG
0171 226 5375
Fax 0171 704 0313
Email 106043.1620@compuserve.com

Further contributions to the work of INSINC are invited: please send them to Kevin Harris at the address above.

Interim Recommendations, March 1996

• The information society will not replace other social structures, but will exist alongside the present industrial capitalist system. Social exclusion is structural and disadvantaged groups will continue to exist because of combinations of difficulties. It is important to acknowledge that access to information alone will not enhance magically the prospects of any disadvantaged group; and the widespread availability of IT will not reduce significantly the present economic and social inequalities without a strategic approach and resources at local level. For certain social groups - such as single parents and their children, or casually employed people who frequently move area - there need to be vigorous community-based initiatives which provide opportunities to exploit the technology in the context of economic and social development.
• The nature of community in the information society has been questioned. While many people will engage with their 'virtual community' on-line, this is unlikely to prevent their participation in their real communities. At the same time, information technology can enhance the nature of that participation. The technology offers opportunities for increased information sharing, for the blending of formal and informal information, and for a great deal of communication to take place independently of institutions which embody power. The role for policy makers is to stimulate the participative uses of the technology through a range of enabling and supportive measures.
• Information handling skills are fundamental to the information society. Measures are needed to develop people's capacity to recognise information needs, and to access and exploit information. This is an issue in curriculum design and also for educators and trainers in a wide range of subjects.
• Increasingly, the technology encourages creativity and experimentation. As more community-related initiatives explore the potential of the technology, the lessons and experience gained needs to be shared. We would like to see some systematic evaluation of key case studies, and a service identifying developmental initiatives in the field of community networking. This is an issue for funders and for the academic sector.
• Our investigations have highlighted the importance of information as the basic currency of democracy, and there are various concerns about the provision of public information, and public access to the information highway. We argue that certain categories of information should be available to everyone at no cost. There is a particularly urgent need for a consensus and a clear definition of these categories. It would be appropriate for a working group to be established to address this, involving organisations such as the Society for Public Information Networks (SPIN), perhaps sponsored by the CCTA. At the same time, information providers and service providers need to pay careful attention to distinguishing between free and charged services. We also find a need for guidelines on responsibility and liability for material made available on-line.
• Most people gain access to information and communication technologies through employment and / or education. If there is no action to provide other routes of access, then approaching 50% of people are likely to be excluded from the information society because they are unemployed, retired, sick, or not in education. A strategic approach, led by government and involving all sectors, is needed to explore imaginative ways of engaging new users with the technology and the information systems. While the information society is closely related to the notion of lifelong learning, we do not believe that the two will come about without addressing excluded groups strategically.
• The principle of 'universal service' in our view needs to be reassessed and explained, taking account of the options for added value (eg access to the World Wide Web) and for access in public places. We note that the services which might be deemed appropriate for universal access are now more diverse, and may not be limited to telecommunications-based services. Central government should agree to a defined principle of universal access and adopt a policy which will fulfil it within a given period. A national working group to establish this definition should be set up, involving a wide range of interests, particularly of consumer groups.
• Among community groups there is still a strong need for community development support for the adoption and use of information technology. This is an unfashionable but fundamental requirement for the information society, given that universal access to the information highway, for all individuals, is unlikely in the foreseeable future. Community centres, like libraries and schools, are natural locations for public access points: but community organisations need externally-funded advice and support which they can trust, if they are to begin developing their information capability and exploiting the potential of the technology. This is an issue for local authorities, TECs, regeneration partnership initiatives of all kinds, the academic sector, and grant-making trusts.
• The information society is being built through local and regional partnership initiatives which establish networks for information transfer. We have come across a wide range of projects of this kind: typically they are led by local authorities with private sector involvement and an economic development orientation. In many cases the authenticity and openness of such partnerships is in question. It is essential that they are open to both the community and the voluntary sectors from the outset. Such partnership initiatives should establish policies which enable community groups to go on-line themselves and, in due course, to publish their own material on-line if they wish to. In addition, we are concerned at the lack of strategy in many instances: an information strategy is essential for local and regional initiatives of this kind, and should take account of all sectors contributing to the information resources of the area, in the way that the best library and information plans (LIPS) have done.
• The information systems available in the information society will need to be far more friendly and easily navigated than presently is the case. We are concerned at the lack of activity in this area and the need for appropriate interfaces and navigational aids.
• There is potential for the information society to strengthen and reinforce our exceptional cultural diversity. The creative opportunities of the on-line multimedia world are vast and in our view are likely to support, not erode, cultural identity. Policy makers have a crucial role to play in stimulating and enabling this development, not just through community arts programmes but also by integrating communication opportunities in more general educational and cultural programmes. In all areas of activity, people will have less and less interest in systems (not just IT systems) which are not interactive.