Source: Canva

When I follow my elementary school children, I am sometimes amazed at how I have lived and managed at the same age without any equipment. After all, the average person can’t miss something they don’t know. But help if children should now be banned from all digital content. Digitalization has come to stay and plays a big role in our daily lives. Most of the services seem to be electronic and if you don’t own an online banking account, life is really hard. The challenges of digitalization have become apparent as I have followed the struggle of my own grandparents. And you don’t even have to be old for challenges to arise. Not everyone is interested in learning about digital devices. I also find it challenging and sad that face-to-face service is declining all the time. I don’t even remember when I would have visited a bank or insurance company myself. We cannot require everyone to learn the Internet or digital services. Are we then living in an equal society? Many services are offered digitally, but are there enough guidance available for them. Can a citizen miss an important information or service because he or she has not been able to use a program?

In their article, Mäkinen and Naarmala point out that in the social debate, efficiency thinking and the pursuit of savings have been emphasized. As a result, public service providers have been under pressure to find ways to increase the efficiency of their operations, e.g. utilizing automation. The aim is to secure basic services through digitalization and automation, but how do we ensure that everyone receives services and is that the only way to provide services? And is there a high risk that the exchange conditions are too expensive? Is there a digital divide narrowing further deepened?

Elo points out in his text that the meaning of the word digital gap has changed over the years. Today, it also refers to the opportunities that different people have to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the network and the purposes for which the network is used. Children also have different opportunities to develop digital skills and the differences between children can be large. According to Elo, this is significantly affected by e.g. parental education and socio-economic status. The rapid development of digitalisation contributes to the distribution of its benefits and disadvantages.

Digitization is also of huge benefit to society. Healthcare has developed enormously in a short period of time and diseases can be better identified and cured than before. Training can be better provided and they are no longer place dependent.It is possible to offer people, for example, digital services to rural areas, where they would otherwise have to go to a big city.Digitization also benefits the environment, although the manufacture of electronics is partly unethical.

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Sources

https://www.empirica.fi/digitalisaation-haitat-ja-hyodyt/

Elo Olga 2021: https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/78505#

Naarmala Jyri, Mäkinen Olli 2021: https://osuva.uwasa.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/13358/Osuva_Naarmala_M%C3%A4kinen_2021.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y