Digital divide and social exclusion: can ICTs change the status quo?

Abstract

Objective. The main objective of this work would be to relate the expansion and use of ICTs, the digital divide and social exclusion, as well as the interrelationships between them. Methods. For this purpose, a thorough review of the literature related to the subject has been carried out, several official reports have been reviewed and analyzed, quantitative data have been collected from different sources as well as from different experiences carried out. Conclusions. The main results show that although ICTs can be a very important tool and have great potential to reduce social exclusion, their evolution seems to be oriented more towards encouraging consumption and online shopping than towards empowering citizens in their use, which would lead us to think that ICTs could be working in the opposite direction to integration, creating inequality where they should be reducing it or increasing the already existing inequality. Limitations of the research. The results of this research could be improved by analyzing the experiences and data in greater detail and in a disaggregated manner, which would allow for a more in-depth understanding of the problems and needs of the different groups and geographic areas and enable more appropriate interventions to be formulated. Originality or value. This is an analytical-descriptive study, which relates several variables with theories on the digital divide and social exclusion, while identifying the main effects of exclusion and, in a propositional way, formulates some ways of intervention to promote inclusion and overcome the gaps.