Inequalities in Internet Access and Use in Urban Areas Discussed at NIC.br Seminar

An unprecedented study on the dynamics of digital exclusion in the city of São Paulo was launched at the event

The way digital inequalities manifest in urban areas and the public policies that can promote greater digital inclusion in cities were the main points discussed at the Seminar “Mapping Digital Inequalities: New Methodologies and Evidence for Public Policies”, which took place on October 28 in São Paulo. The event, conducted by the Regional Center for Studies on the Development of the Information Society (Cetic.br) of the Brazilian Network Information Center (NIC.br), had the partnership of the Center for Metropolitan Studies (CEM), the Brazilian Center for Analysis and Planning (Cebrap), and the international project DiSTO – From Digital Skills to Tangible Outcomes, led by the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

During the opening of the meeting, Demi Getschko (NIC.br) noted that resources from the .br domain are invested in conducting fundamental surveys to support public policies on the use of information and communication technologies (ICT). “The data and diagnoses generated by Cetic.br's surveys are of great public utility. We hope they will contribute to the definition of measures that can benefit everyone.” Also during the opening, Alexandre Barbosa (Cetic.br) presented data from the publication ICT Households 2018, which measures the access and use of ICT in the country's households. “It's necessary to understand how Brazilians are adopting technologies in their daily lives. For that, we measure not only the proportion of Internet users but above all what they do online, such as e-government activities, educational uses, e-commerce, among other indicators,” explained Barbosa.

The Seminar was marked by the launch of the Sectoral Study “Digital Inequalities in Urban Areas: A Study on Internet Access and Use in the City of São Paulo”. The unprecedented publication revealed that the incorporation of ICT in the lives of São Paulo's residents has occurred unevenly across different regions of the capital. “In the city of São Paulo, we have 82% of individuals connected to the Internet – a number higher than the Brazilian average, where 70% of individuals use the network. But when we look at other indicators, such as the presence of broadband above 4Mbps, this value drops to a quarter of São Paulo's residents,” emphasized Fábio Senne (Cetic.br) while presenting some highlights of the publication.

In the first panel of the event, Ellen Helsper (London School of Economics) spoke about the importance of studies on digital inequalities that take into account the territorial dimension. “The place where people live shapes the norms and customs of these individuals, builds horizons of opportunities and choices. The environment places limits on access to technologies and influences the type of access, skills, uses, and digital experiences of the population,” she noted.

Participating in the same panel, Tomás Wissenbach (CEBRAP) reinforced the importance of discussing territorial issues to understand more effectively the difficulties and barriers to Internet access, highlighting the need to consider digital inclusion policies associated with other policies related to education and health. The panel also included the presence of Luis Kubota (IPEA), who presented data on Internet access in the Federal District, where most households have access to the network via broadband, one of the regions with the highest Internet access in the country.

The role of technology in the field of work was discussed by Karen Mossberger (Arizona State University) in the panel “Digital Inequalities and Public Policies: Investigating the Relationships between Digital and Social Inequalities”. “Digital skills impact people's daily lives, but also the performance of the economy, as is the case with workers' salaries,” commented the researcher. “It is possible to have infrastructure and access to technologies in a given area, but if people cannot afford these services or do not have the necessary skills to use them, they will obviously remain digitally excluded.”

During the same panel, Marta Arretche (CEM/USP) discussed how the place where individuals live and work influences their appropriation of the Internet. “Just like other collective goods, in the Internet, territory also matters and has consequences on individuals' economic opportunities and civic engagement in the digital world.” Concluding the event, Francisco Gaetani (EBAPE/FGV) discussed how digital inequalities impact various dimensions of development, including the labor market and organizational routines.

The sectoral study “Digital Inequalities in Urban Areas” can be accessed at https://cetic.br/publicacao/desigualdades-digitais-no-espaco-urbano-um-estudo-sobre-o-acesso-e-o-uso-da-internet-na-cidade-de-sao-paulo/, and the ICT Households 2018 publication here. The debates from the “Mapping Digital Inequalities” Seminar can be rewatched in full on the NIC.br YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQq8-9yVHyOYE9pgzjNe2qDq-E7LM4U_i.

This content was automatically translated with the support of artificial intelligence.