Are We Digital Citizens? The Reality of Connectivity in the Pandemic

With the pandemic, work, learning, and a large part of our lives have moved to the virtual environment. Does this make us digital citizens?

Because of situations caused by the pandemic, most people have found it necessary to adapt to working and studying from home. This scenario could imply that connected people are becoming digital citizens little by little, but the reality is complicated.

In Latin America, only 23% of the workforce can work remotely. This situation is very similar in Spain, where it is estimated that only  22.3% of workers can take advantage of this modality. Because many people currently spend most of their time online, society has had to digitalize, and users have become digital citizens, but what does this mean?

What does “digital citizenship” mean?

To decide if adapting to telework or online education means that someone is a digital citizen requires understanding what this concept means, which is complicated because it changes a lot depending on who defines the term.

The book “Digital Citizenship: The Internet, Society, and Participation” defines digital citizenship only as “the ability to participate in online society.” However, what does this online participation entail? Professor Sofia Ranchordas of the University of Groningen defines digital citizenship as “the ability to regularly use the Internet, competently, critically, and securely.” For its part, Neelie Kroes, former Vice-President of the European Commission, said in the 2014 Science 2.0 Conference in Hamburg that digital citizens are “people with greater access to information, people empowered to shape the world around them, people more able to learn and participate.”

According to UNESCO, “Digital citizenship means that the citizen has a skill set enabling him or her to access, retrieve, understand, evaluate, use, create and share information and media in all formats, using various tools, critically, ethically, and effectively to participate and engage in personal, professional, and social activities.”

These different definitions show that being a digital citizen is not just about being connected; it also requires navigation skills. Unfortunately, the fact that a person has access to the internet does not make him an expert in its use, much less a “native.” A study by the Center for Sociological Research found that only 39.8% of participants with internet access had advanced skills.

From ‘digital immigrants’ to ‘digital natives’

Marc Prensky is known for coining the terms “digital native” and “digital immigrant.” The first refers to those born with technology and have spent their lives immersed in it. The immigrants are the people who have to learn technology and have a hard time adapting to the digital world.

Even before the pandemic, many “digital immigrants” felt obliged to digitalize because they needed to use social media, smartphones, e-banking, or technology in their work environments. Adaptation can be similar to learning a new language, which explains why many teachers struggle to adapt to online learning platforms. However, the so-called generation gap goes beyond age. The digital gap can also be caused by a lack of resources or internet access.

Although internet access is a common good and is sought to be recognized as a fundamental right for humans, it is not always guaranteed in a country’s citizenship. Internet access involves issues such as security, transparency, legality, and inclusion, among others. In this sense, safety and legality are essential because one of the most significant risks challenging digital citizens is a breakdown of cybersecurity. Given that the regular user uploads and stores sensitive information on the internet, data protection is essential. Without this, the users are in vulnerable situations and are prone to be hacked or blackmailed by cybercriminals.

Digital citizens must be connected

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) reported that 56% of Latinos and Caribbean people use the internet, and, of these, 45% have internet in their homes. Also, only 45.5% have access to a broadband connection. The picture does not improve much when talking about mobile broadband as only 54% of the population has access to it, even though mobile technology reaches 90%.

In a 2017 report, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) found that more than 200 million working-age people in Latin America are digitally excluded, demonstrating a vast digital divide. In this age of pandemic, the internet helps ensure the continuity of work, education, and social life, so all people must access it. To achieve this, UNESCO suggests recognizing critical barriers to access and the relevance of digital skills and creating standards for digitally inclusive projects. The latter includes public policies that promote connectivity in schools, platforms’ development to support those with little access to new technologies (such as older adults and indigenous populations), and awarding subsidies for connectivity.

According to the Economic System of Latin America (SELA), the policy strategy to address this problem would contain technological infrastructure, connectivity infrastructure, and mechanisms to achieve technological or digital literacy. These three points ensure that the population becomes a society on the web. Digital inclusivity promotes individual and social development. If these policies are developed, citizens would have access to the internet and be connected and understand digital language and master new technologies.

The digital ecosystem: is Latin America ready for its cyber citizens?

The report, The state of digitalization of Latin America in the face of the COVID pandemic,  from Telecom Advisory Services, LLC (author
s), and the CAF Development Bank of Latin America classifies the region intermediate in its development of a digital ecosystem. However, this does not mean that the 17-member nations have what is needed to mitigate the pandemic’s effects.

Because of the pandemic health contingency measures, many people now work from home. The time they spend connected to the internet has increased. For example, since March, when the pandemic began, in Mexico, a person’s spend time on the internet increased by 7.4%; in Chile, 19%; and in Ecuador, 11.8%.

The CAF report helps to understand the importance of connectivity in pandemic time. The report also indicates that broadband speed impacts GDP by 0.73% when the speed increases by 100%, implying a negative influence on the economy. Why? Part of the problem is that the home internet is not prepared for the 80% increase in data uploads nor the data streaming demands of video conferencing. Furthermore, although the report indicates that 78.78% of Latin America is projected to be digitalized this year, this does not mean that connectivity will improve, increasing the digital divide.

It is also important to consider access to the internet and access to devices and technology if we intend to make the population indeed real digital citizens. In the region, 44.89% of people have a computer in their home, which can be seen as a positive thing, but, due to the pandemic, this percentage may not be sufficient to ensure access to telework and online education, especially if the families have children in different grades.

Internet-use at home says a lot about how prepared people are to be digital citizens. According to data from the CAF report, on average, 30.3% of the Latin American population is limited to browsing social networks and uses the internet to communicate, showing the insufficiency of digital tools for education or commerce. This is seen not only on a personal level but also in companies. Eighty-five percent of all countries in the region have access to the web. However, this access varies when analyzing whether digital tools are used for purchasing supplies online. For example, in Peru, only 15.20% of users do so online, unlike Brazil, where 66% shop online.

Does COVID-19 convert us to digital citizens?

Being a digital citizen means having access to the internet, a broadband connection, the necessary equipment to connect, and, above all, the skills needed to navigate. On this topic, Professor Sofia Ranchordas points out that a mobile device is not enough because it does not allow users to take online courses or work fully.

In the case of teachers, although many have managed to adapt their face-to-face classes to the digital environment, this does not necessarily make them digital citizens. Many schools and universities did not have the time or resources to prepare for online education, nor do they have a database of how many of their employees or students have or do not have the tools to virtually continue the school cycle.

COVID-19 put an end to doubts about what education and work would look like in an online environment. Although many schools and employers were seeking ways to digitalize or were already doing it, no one was prepared for quarantine and the pandemic changes. However, this is a situation that only benefits real digital citizens, those who have access not only to the internet but also the tools and knowledge necessary to continue their jobs, education, and lives, despite everything. May this age serve as a lesson on the urgency of ensuring access to the internet as a fundamental universal right and giving citizens the tools they need to become authentic digital citizens.

Translation by Daniel Wetta.

Paulette Delgado

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This article from Observatory of the Institute for the Future of Education may be shared under the terms of the license CC BY-NC-SA 4.0