Digital youth inclusion and the big data divide: examining the Scottish perspective

Many of the existing youth digital inclusion programmes primarily focus on functional digital literacy (e.g., how to access information online), and not critical digital literacy (e.g., how to critically analyse the information online).

In this article based on a research conducted in Scotland, Alicja Pawluczuk (United Nations University Institute, Macau) suggests that digital inclusion should be viewed not just as a strategy for employment and education, but as a set of larger, systematic, continually evolving, and critical youth engagement practice to enable young people’s critical digital abilities to continually review and respond to their positions within the power structures of the data society.

The Author suggests digital inclusion provision for young people should consider three main issues: digital inclusion processes, young people’s needs, and young people’s human rights in the digital age.