Digital divide and beyond: What do we know of Information and Communications Technology’s long-term social effects? Some uncomfortable questions

Abstract

Our daily lives have become so immersed in digital Information and Communications Technology that we rarely stop to think about it. We know much about the benefits brought by its recent developments, including the Internet with its numerous applications. At the same time, there is increasing concern that the economic emphasis linked to these technologies will widen the digital divide, potentially sharpening social inequalities in a global scale. However, it has come ever more clear that it is not technology as such that is the cause of the social problems with digital communications technology but the ways how it has been applied, reflecting unequal power relations in our societies. There are a number of disturbing questions concerning the long-term effects of the social and cultural deployment of Information and Communications Technology. Some of the questions we address in this article here are the following: Can digital Information and Communications Technology still be regulated nationally? How do we measure the effects of Information and Communications Technology on academic work? How should we think critically about big data? Has digital Information and Communications Technology improved our lives?