Digital Inclusion in an Unequal World An Emancipatory Manifesto

Chapter 1.  Notes from the underground

 Lessons from Imfundo: Partership for IT in education, 2001–2004

Vignette: Nnenna Nwakanma: Working WITH, not FOR

Chapter 2.  Shifting the balance: From growth to equity

Vignette: Benita Rowe: ‘The tech will save her’: False promises in digital gender-based violence (GBV) solutions

Vignette: Janet Longmore: The youth-led imperative

Vignette: Poncelete Ileleji: A Gambian perspective on digital tech and equity

Vignette: Akber Gardezi: Why persons with disabilities will keep on experiencing Ffilure

Vignette: Domenico Fiormonte: The geopolitics of digital knowledge

Chapter 3.  A UN system co-opted by the interests of global capital

Vignette: Emmanuel C. Lallana: Reinventing travail: ICT in basic dducation in the Philippines

Vignette: Dorothy Okello: Is it really more of the same since WOUGNET’s inception in 2000?

Vignette: Yuliya Morenets: Beyond the token seat: Rethinking youth inclusion in global forums

Vignette: Revi Sterling: Retreads: Pushing new rocks up new hills

Chapter 4: The ‘me’ syndrome

Vignette: Shabnam Aggarwal: It’s about who built it – and who didn’t

Vignette: Juliette Unwin: Crafting a more equitable framework for global epidemiological research practice: Working with not on

Vignette: Jamie Proctor: The right people, building things they understand, and striving to deliver directly for citizens

Vignette: G. ‘Hari’ Harindranath: How may academics help to empower marginalised communities through digital tech?

Chapter 5: The innovation fetish

Vignette: Ken Banks: kiwanja.net: Memories of innovation for the most marginalised

Vignette: Fernanda Scur: Digital tech and the unbanked: The COVID pandemic in Brazil

Vignette: Nick Hughes: The power of micro-transactions

Vignette: Marine Al Dahdah: The digital privatisation of India’s administration

Vignette: David Hollow: Evidence-driven decision-making in the use of digital technologies in education

Chapter 6: On freedom and digital enslavement

Vignette: Nimmi Rangaswamy: Social, shared and sustainable: Whatever happened to the community internet?

Vignette: Paul Spiesberger: Spinning digital cotton to counter digital colonialism

Vignette: Mei Lin Fung: Learning from land rights so data rights are right from the get go

Vignette: Tendani Mulanga Chimboza: The exploitation of young women: Digital tech at the heart of the immoral economy

Vignette: Tom Wambeke: Beyond the cable: ‘The embrace of co-designed, plural futures’.

Chapter 7: Towards emancipatory responsibilities and actions

Vignette: Ugo Vallauri: The right to repair

Vignette: Mohamed Sharil Tarmizi: It’s about what technology can do for society

Vignette: Judith Hellerstein, Alejandro Pisanty, Lousewies van der Laan, Emily Hickson and Tim Unwin: Nigel Hickson: A digital life well lived for others

Biography

Tim Unwin is Emeritus Professor of Geography at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK, where his research-practice over the last 25 years has focused especially on the use of digital technologies by the world’s poorest and most marginalised people. He is the Founder of the ICT4D Collective (2004–present), was Chairholder of the UNESCO Chair in ICT4D (2007–2023), and served as Secretary General of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (2011–2015).

"Tim Unwin’s new book digs into some of the deep psychological reasons why our digital interventions so often fail to live up to the promise of being ‘for all’. He offers a sobering, even dystopian view of where things stand today—yet, at the same time, he inspires with his optimism that we still have the power to shape such technologies for real and lasting good."

Ralph Hertwig, Professor and Director of the Center for Adaptive Rationality, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin

"Tim’s diverse experiences have given him unique insights into what needs to be done so that the underprivileged and most marginalized population in Africa can really benefit from the use of digital tech. Used appropriately, digital tech can bring access to education, healthcare, financial services, and employment opportunities. It is an essential tool for social inclusion with the potential to reduce inequalities and foster sustainable development. This challenging book combines his practical experiences with rigorous scholarship to create a highly readable manifesto that cuts through the rhetoric and tells us all what we really need to do."

Helena Fernandes, Chairperson of the Board of Directors, Mozambique Communications Regulatory Authority (INCM)

"This new book raises alarms about really important matters. The gap in digital access and use is getting bigger, and the explicit intent for equality and equity in global initiatives is so rarely there. This powerful book resonates with many of my own concerns."

Haif Bannayan, Global Director Business Development, The International Baccalaureate

"I share with Tim a belief that we need to continue to do more to support the poorest and most marginalised individuals and communities in the world. What I do not share with him is his deep understanding of how digital tech can contribute to this effort, but equally how it can have profoundly harmful effects and deepen divisions and inequalities. As a result of reading this book, I am at least a little closer to that understanding, and hope that policy makers and those advising them will take careful note of its wise words and recommendations."

Sir Myles Wickstead, Visiting Professor, International Relations, and former senior civil servant and Ambassador

"Tim has articulated what many digital development advocates have long observed and privately lamented but seldom voiced publicly. In a world shaped by geopolitical tension, self-interest, and corporate exploitation, the gains of the technological revolution have reached only a privileged few. His book urges a return to compassion and reframes equity as an achievable goal. He critiques the corporate and political ecosystems, and makes an inspiring call for digital emancipation, laying out a clear roadmap for transformation, closing digital divides and unlocking opportunity for communities everywhere."

Bernadette Lewis, Secretary General, Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation

"Digital transformation is having a major influence on the economy and the future of humanity, but many people in developing countries are still seeing only limited benefits. This important new book challenges us all to think again about how we can ensure that everyone benefits from the use of digital tech. Not only does it provide a sound critique, it also offers a clear manifesto for what we urgently need to do to rectify this."

Torbjörn Fredriksson, Head of E-commerce and Digital Economy, UNCTAD

"Tim has crossed many boundaries between academia, government service, international organisations, civil society and the private sector. This powerful and passionate book draws on his very extensive research practice to present a convincing case for why digital tech has not yet sufficiently been used to serve the world’s poorest and most marginalised. It also goes beyond this, and tells us clearly what we need to do to make the world fairer and less divided."

Chaesub Lee, Chairman of Passwordless Alliance and Principal Advisor of Welchmann Keen; formerly Director of ITU Telecommunication Standardization Bureau