GCRI · Digital Public Infrastructure
Digital inclusion
Digital public services are only public if everyone can use them. People without connectivity, devices, skills, accessible design or trust are excluded unless services offer alternatives. This page sets out why people are excluded from digital public services, how inclusion and accessibility are measured, and what evidence serves the agencies that design and deliver them.
Digital inclusion on the record.
Digital inclusion: how the risk develops.
Coverage, access, affordability and literacy. The dossier below sets out how the risk develops, what is measured, where the data come from, how it is modelled and who decides.
Access is uneven
Rural areas, poorer households and older people are less likely to have connectivity and devices suitable for online services.
Design can exclude
Services that are not accessible, available in local languages or simple to use exclude people with disabilities and low literacy.
Assisted channels matter
In-person and assisted channels, such as service centres and intermediaries, let people use digital services with help.
Distrust deters use
Fear of fraud, surveillance or errors leads some people to avoid digital services even when they could use them.
Consent and inclusion board.
The screen a team would use to follow this subject: its measures, states and decisions. Names are examples and values are illustrative.
Consent and inclusion board
Digital inclusion · Data exchange · Quarter 3
Consent artefacts
| Benefit eligibility | 8997 | 84 | 33 |
| Credit scoring | 2815 | 64 | 160 |
| Health record share | 918 | 83 | 62 |
Inclusion
Digital exclusion compounds exclusion in every domain.
Findings are designed for the Evidence Brief series. ITU's Facts and Figures track connectivity; WCAG 2.2 (2023) sets accessibility.
- Inclusion surveys.
- Accessibility audits.
How digital inclusion is modelled, measured and tested.
The model, its assumptions, its data and its uncertainty, in the form a scientist or engineer would check. Structures follow published methods. The values drawn are illustrative, not findings.
Datasets and provenance
The data classes behind digital inclusion and what is recorded about each before it is used.
| Data class | Provenance recorded | Resolution stated | Licence checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Satellite imagery, optical and radar | sensor, processing level, acquisition date | pixel size and revisit | per scene |
| Reanalysis and climate model output | model, experiment, member, version | grid and time step | per release |
| In-situ sensors and gauges | station, instrument, calibration record | point and sampling rate | per network |
| Population and asset exposure | method, vintage, input sources | cell size and unit | per release |
| Boundaries and reference geography | producer, edition, date | scale | per edition |
- Lineage
- W3C PROV record from source to figure
- Principles
- FAIR: findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable
- Gaps
- shown as missing, never filled silently
What is measured, and how well.
Each indicator carries its unit, its cadence, the kind of source behind it and the evidence label a value would carry. No values are shown: a programme supplies them under its own authority.
| Indicator | Unit | Cadence | Source type | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individuals using the internet | percent of population | annual | ITU estimates | ESTIMATED |
| Use of online public services | percent of adults | annual | Surveys | REPORTED |
| Public websites meeting accessibility criteria | percent of audited sites | per audit | Accessibility monitoring | OBSERVED |
| Services available in assisted or offline channels | percent of services | per assessment | Service inventories | DECLARED |
| Digital skills | percent of adults with basic skills | per survey | Skills surveys | REPORTED |
| Reasons for not using online services | percent by reason | per survey | Surveys | REPORTED |
Where the evidence comes from.
Named public datasets and institutional records, each with its licence class. Sources by agreement are used only under their terms and never republished.
| Source | What it gives | Licence class |
|---|---|---|
| ITU Facts and Figures | Internet use by country, sex and location | Public, ITU terms (to check) |
| Eurostat digital economy and society statistics | Use of e-government and digital skills | Open, Eurostat reuse policy |
| UN E-Government Survey | Online service provision across countries | Public, UN terms of use |
| Web Accessibility Directive monitoring reports | Accessibility of public sector websites in the EU | Public, EU terms |
| W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines | Accessibility criteria | Open, W3C terms |
Who decides, and what the evidence serves.
Digital Public Infrastructure prepares evidence. The decisions below are taken by the authorities named, under their own rules, and never by the platform.
| Who decides | The question | Evidence this page serves |
|---|---|---|
| Digital government agencies | How to design services everyone can use | Inclusion profiles; accessibility audits |
| Service owners | Which assisted and offline channels to keep | Channel reviews |
| Regulators | How to enforce accessibility requirements | Audit evidence |
Outputs this topic produces
- Inclusion profiles for digital public services
- Accessibility audit methods
- Assisted channel reviews
- Evidence notes for inclusive service design
What experts ask.
Digital public infrastructure only creates public value if people can use it. Gaps in connectivity and skills follow familiar lines: rural areas, older people, people with disabilities, women in some regions, low-income households and people with limited literacy. When services become digital-only, these groups can lose access to benefits and services they previously reached in person.
- Who has network coverage, an affordable device and affordable data, and who does not?
- Which skills do people need to use public digital services, and how are they acquired?
- Are services designed to be accessible to people with disabilities and usable on basic devices and low bandwidth?
- What assisted and offline channels remain for people who cannot or will not use digital services?
Drivers and processes.
Inclusion depends on infrastructure, affordability, capability and design together.
Networks
Mobile and fixed networks reach most populations but leave gaps in remote areas; coverage does not mean usage.
Devices and data
Cost of smartphones and data can be a major barrier for low-income households.
Skills and design
Digital literacy, language and accessible design decide whether people can complete tasks on their own.
Inclusion research distinguishes between access, use and benefit. A person may live under network coverage but not own a suitable device; may own a device but lack the skills or confidence to complete a government form; may complete the form but be unable to resolve an error without help. Each stage needs its own evidence and its own response.
How the evidence is built, and its limits.
- 01
Coverage maps
Operator and regulator coverage maps often overstate real-world service quality.
- 02
Household surveys
Show device ownership, use and skills by group. Infrequent surveys can miss rapid change.
- 03
Service analytics
Completion and drop-off rates in digital services reveal barriers, but only for people who start.
- 04
Accessibility testing
Testing against recognised accessibility guidelines and with users with disabilities.
How it is studied, and what the methods cannot say.
- 01Data engineering, interoperability and stewardshipSecure data exchange layers · Common data models · Consent-based sharingApplied here
- 02Digital identity and public digital systemsAssurance design for services · Verifiable credentials · Exclusion error analysisApplied here
- 03High-performance, cloud and edge computingCapacity planning for peaks · Multi-site and multi-provider hosting · Portability engineeringApplied here
Where this page's references lead.
The bodies and documents this page is read against. Status and editions change; each link goes to the issuing body.
Questions and answers.
What is digital inclusion in public services?
What are the WCAG guidelines?
Why keep non-digital channels?
Is the digital divide closing?
Should public services be digital by default?
How is inclusion measured?
Does the platform fund connectivity?
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