Digital have nots - a big challenge

India's development sector is facing an acute digital and technology crisis.

 Digital have nots - a big challenge

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• The story: The pandemic exposed the deep faultlines in India's transition towards a more digitally enabled society. Several essential services, ranging from access to healthcare services – including vaccines – to education, livelihoods, and rations — felt the effects of unequal distribution of technology.
• Urgency: With increasing inequalities and the burden on systems, the need for digitally driven programmes is now more urgent than ever before. Even the development sector (NGOs, Civil Society Organisation (CSOs)) cannot remain aloof to new technologies, and must strive for digital transition to be helpful in resolving various digital challenges.
• Digital challenges: These abound, along some critical lines -

1. Digital inaccessibility - The first wave of Covid-19 brought with it an immediate and urgent need for the development sector to shift towards technology, when faced by the inability to access communities remotely. The consequences of these gaps are likely dire – an estimated 10 million girls could drop out of school.
2. Remote areas unserved  - With digital services not being uniformly distributed, communities in remote areas often require on-ground staff to deploy and supplement digital tools. They may face barriers in accessing funding for innovative and infrastructural digital solutions. This, in turn, poses challenges for Civil Society Organisations (CSOs).
3. Digital divide - During the second wave, urban Indians consistently relied on social media platforms to seek life-saving medical supplies but rural Indian could not utilise it to the fullest. Unequal access to the internet has also made accessing and registering for Covid-19 vaccines in India a challenge, leaving millions of Indians unable to even register for them.
4. Illiteracy - A majority of Indian citizens lack digital literacy and online safety is an alien concept to many who may have digital literacy. barriers and limited data and infrastructural systems further compound the scenario. Social barriers and systemic inequality also play a large role in this. Mobile ownership among women is significantly lower than their male counterparts. Many communities object to mobile devices in the hands of young people, more so young women, to prevent them from disrupting existing patriarchal systems.

• What development sector needs: The development sector (NGOs/CSOs) needs to shift towards technology-driven ecosystems, to enable a more systematic and concerted effort to bridge the present digital divide and help access remote communities digitally. According to many CSOs, the first step is to address the demands posed by technological interventions across a programme life cycle. This calls for customised digital interventions. The success of technology-based programmes is ultimately contingent on the support for it on the ground, and community feedback is critical to driving successful and sustainable programmes. There is the need to integrate and account for interpersonal mediation and the last-mile “human touch”.

1. The government and private sector service providers need to prioritise the availability of digital infrastructure and connectivity while civil society integrates programmatic responses into government priorities.
2. There are no blanket solutions to the critical challenges that come with embracing technology in framing programmes for the development sector. Documenting their learnings is an important first step in pushing for more open conversations with regard to digital interventions in India.

• Summary: Recognising the essential role that digital tools, access and literacy will play in the months and years to come, Civil societies and NGOs should decisively move towards this shift.

 

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