Leaving no one behind” is the backbone of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals. However, the current onset of digitalisation shows the opposite dynamic – digitalisation of every sphere of society creates more inequalities and division between those with and those without access. Digitalisation also deepens and builds on the many deeper lying disparities such as gender, caste, age, ethnicity, religion, and social and political networks. Marginalised groups are deeply affected by how their existing inequalities are manifested in a new digital dimension.
The approach
Building on Lefebvre’s famous book ‘The Right to the City’, the research network proposes to put inclusion at the centre of digitalisation and smart cities. To achieve that, more information is needed on what digitalisation efforts work for marginalised groups and their needs. Therefore, this ongoing research aims to create collaborative and inclusive values towards digitalisation in marginal and vulnerable urban communities in India, Indonesia, Kenya, and the Netherlands.
Aiming to co-create research on the intersection between digitalisation and marginalisation, the ‘Appropriation By marginalised Communities of Digital technologies’ (ABCD) research network has been established. This network, connects researchers and practitioners to investigate how dynamics of empowerment and engagement occur in the processes of digitalisation, specifically by:
- Critically reviewing smart cities
- Conducting action research with marginalised urban populations
- Networking to promote joint policy action through proposal writing, lobbying, and policy papers
How did it start?
The network initially came together for the workshop organised between 20 and 24 March 2023 in Chennai, India. It connected 22 researchers, government officials, and community leaders from Chennai (India), Yogyakarta (Indonesia), and Nairobi (Kenya). Representatives of academia, NGOs and government officials worked together to ensure knowledge cross-fertilisation and innovative, balanced thinking on the problem of digital inclusion of the urban poor. This method aimed to show that the participants from the three locations can learn from each other. On the last day, the participants went to their city groups and discussed how the findings from the workshop could be generalised and upscaled to be used in other locations in the majority of the world.
During the workshop, participants convened to address community needs and design digital information hubs. The workshop, a collaboration between TU Delft, Leiden University, and Erasmus University, integrated design thinking with action planning, utilising methods such as empathy interviews, empathy maps and personas to understand local contexts and incorporate community insights. At the end of the week, the three groups presented their action research plan for developing an information hub.
The initial workshop gave momentum to interdisciplinary work on ABCD. Currently, IHS is developing a structured collaborative approach to stimulate and valorise impactful research on the topic. The portfolio of work has spread across IHS's three pillars (education, research and advisory).
At IHS, students of the MSc in Urban Management and Development have the opportunity to participate in a student atelier to conduct action research for their master's thesis in Nairobi and Chennai. Students would focus on researching the right to the city, access to information, digital inclusion and community resilience. This contributes not only to the professional development of our students but also to the impact of education at Erasmus University as a whole.
Explore the four case studies
Chennai
In Chennai, IHS collaborates with Anna University to examine the effects of digitalisation on women in resettlement sites. A ‘multi-dimensional’ digital divide reflects the interconnectedness of technology with race, gender, culture, and social constructs, affecting the use of digital technology. Zooming in on gender and the use of mobile phones, several studies have shown that beneath the surface of the digital revolution lies a complex interplay of patriarchy and technology, influencing the usage patterns of mobile phones among women and girls.
Since 2019, Anna University and IHS have been working together on the Communication for Development project involving inhabitants from Perumbakkam, IRCDUC, scholars from MIDS, IHS and Anna University students and PhD students. The main objective of the project is to develop and implement an ICT device for women in resettlement sites that will raise affected women’s awareness of their rights, support women in creating business opportunities and reaching clients, help women to connect with their community and provide them with access to support groups and provide them with information about government services and programmes in and around the new resettlement site.
Now, IHS and Anna University are working on establishing a living lab that addresses an urgent social challenge felt worldwide, and that demands an interdisciplinary approach: sustainable development to overcome poverty (SDG 1), reduce the digital divide (SDG 10), and promote social inclusion (SDG 16).
Nairobi
In 2022, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Nuvoni Centre for Innovation Research, and Ghetto Foundation in Nairobi conducted a study on digitalisation in Mathare. They mapped the digital divide, indicating what digital platforms are used by whom and the barriers they face. The research has shown that everybody in Mathare uses MPESA as a digital payment service and related services for savings and credit. Even the poorest of the poor, with an income below $2 per day, use MPESA on a dumb phone to receive gifts from church, NGOs and family.
Digital payments are also used to access water, electricity, or gas, but these services are wide apart and regularly destroyed by gangs protecting their informal means of income. The research identifies the following digital exclusion factors in Nairobi's Mathare that call for targeted interventions:
- limited access to technology due to spatial, economic, and motivational disparities
- low digital literacy
- inadequate access to online job platforms and workspaces
- lack of skills in emerging digital markets
The research concluded that if these barriers are removed, residents may be better placed to use digital tools to learn skills, find jobs, do their work more efficiently, work from home, and/or conduct work online. Therefore, in 2024, IHS will work with the ICT Authority, community researchers, and other partner organisations to conduct a social survey to develop digital support centres.
Indonesia
In Indonesia, the research is conducted with the National Research and Innovation Agency of Indonesia (BRIN), Leiden University, and Yogya Gadjah Mada University to discuss the pitfalls of government cooperation in digitalising low-income urban kampung neighbourhoods. In Indonesia, smart city initiatives run the risk of excluding the urban poor and other vulnerable groups, including those living in kampung. In Kampung Heritage Kayutangan, the local government only implemented "smart" community ideas aligned with its vision. In Magelang, the residents' existing self-organised informal digital economy is ignored by the local authorities.
However, the kampung community is eager to participate in the development of a smart city, particularly to enhance its economic prosperity. This study aims to formulate an inclusive smart kampung model, particularly focusing on aligning policy execution with community participation. The research argues that developing inclusive smart kampungs starts by understanding kampungs and their bottom-up smart initiatives and opportunities.
Rotterdam
Rotterdam aims to be a digital pioneer where innovation leads the way. In addition to this, economic innovation-driven ambition, inclusivity, citizen engagement, and co-creation are identified as priorities. The network has conducted two studies to explore digital inclusion in Rotterdam.
Right to Reijeroord
Reijeroord is a neighbourhood in Rotterdam South pioneering new ways of working towards sustainability. This includes digital means, such as digital participation, knowledge sharing, and digital safety through so-called mosquitoes, which are digital devices that give a high-pitched sound to scare youngsters away from public spaces. However, these approaches failed to reach youngsters, who felt socially and spatially excluded. The Right to Reijeroord project, led by dr.ir. Emiel Rijshouwer en dr.ir. Els Leclercq designed smart governance mechanisms to include youngsters by giving them spatial, social and cognitive space. The study combined various research methods, including action research, community engagement, and research design techniques to empower youngsters. This included using art from street artist Ricardo van Zwol and a documentary.
Digital exclusion
The digital divide is a new form of social exclusion; it refers to the continuum of digital motivation, material access, skills, and usage within a population. As society and the economy continue to digitalize, people are left behind. This research investigated the digital divide in Carnisse, a neighbourhood in Rotterdam South.
This study was conducted by five master's students in urban management and development. It used a novel survey covering multiple topics of the digital divide, whereas most other surveys focused only on one topic. Overall, about 20% of the population is digitally excluded, especially among older people, the less educated, and those with less knowledge of English. In this multicultural context, ethnicity, in combination with gender, also explains digital exclusion.
The ABCD Network
The work on establishing the ABCD network was funded by VCC, and it builds on the previous work carried out by the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus partners, such as research on household resilience in Nairobi carried out with ICFI and IHS' work on women's empowerment in the resettlement process in Chennai. In Jakarta, IHS conducted research with BRIN on how the national smart city program includes marginalized communities. The study focuses on Malang, Megalang, and Yogyakarta. We also work with VCC in Rotterdam, where we focus on assessing the level of the digital divide and using digital innovations to include the youth in the development of urban public space.
The previously showcased research was conducted with a vast network of collaborators:
Interested in our services?
For a specific collaboration on this project, feel free to reach out to Jan Fransen (fransen@ihs.nl), Vera Safronova (safronova@ihs.nl) or Maartje van Eerd (vaneerd@ihs.nl).