I wrote an article at the Scientific American blog yesterday highlighting digital divides – or digital inequalities, if you prefer – from other perspectives, pointing out that these digital divides go far beyond pure infrastructure issues and need to become a key focus of engagement for profit and nonprofit organizations as they continue their missions to develop programs for social and digital inclusion.

Everyone’s talking about internet access: from European media to US media, stressing connectivity issues that merely compounding existing social inequalities as “new digital divides”, as if they are something new in the networked society. They are not.

According to the available measures, the selected indicators (such as gender, income, occupation, online experience, internet penetration, type of internet connection, etc.) are significantly related to the levels of (one’s country) per capita GDP, literacies, education, level of democratization, etc.

In Europe, Eurostat (the statistical office of the European Commission) conduct surveys and publish reports on Internet use (data I used for my research and other International reports and stats), whilst the EU’s Digital Agenda for Europe strategy make and initiate action plans for taking care of the information society in Europe.

As I wrote, the notion of being social on the Internet is constantly evolving since we are connected not only via computers but also via mobile phones or handheld devices. The web is getting more powerful and social: new messaging services emerge each month; streamed media is becoming real even for the non-technical consumer; Google reshapes its services like a child rearranging building blocks; new ideas in federated rather than centralized systems are being explored, and more. The frequent change in layouts, privacy settings and interaction tools indicate that online dynamics require users to possess new classes of knowledge and skills if they are to adapt to such major changes on Facebook, Google, Twitter and other places in order to navigate and socialize online.

Governments are struck by internet access and computers on the top level but don’t consider other factors important to decreasing already widening digital inequalities. But in the last 24 hrs I’ve received enormous amounts of feedback, with emails, comments, replies and reactions from the readers, twitterers (those following at @DanicaR), software engineers, education and e-learning specialists, media and policy makers, and comments from people in the Information-Communication Technologies. I’m grateful for your feedback as as I think I’ve hit a hot spot to which everyone in the Internet industry and policy sectors has to pay attention. It is a very interesting topic but also a complex one, and it will be a burning subject in the years to come as it influences all areas in the Information Networked Society.

Also take a look at a post from the Computer World. This is a very interesting reaction on my SciAm article by Simon Phipps who also gave some practical examples of digital inequalities/divides that illustrated how broad the categories at hand actually are. They include: teaching children and adults to use “transferrable concepts and skills using a variety of open source software; insisting that public data needs to be paid for because some companies might profit from it, with the result that only companies who can profit from it can use it; privacy controls which pretend that “privacy” is a synonym for “keeping secrets”, rather than “the ability to assert control over a social situation” as one researcher insightfully observes”, etc.

Governments worldwide must create more efficient strategies and programs to overcome such inequalities and not just provide techno-infrastructure. They can do this by creating, developing and fostering knowledge societies in order to decrease the existing divides, and also by cultivating communities of practice and emphasizing over and over that learning (formal, non formal, life-long) is social and by engaging and interacting on social networks and deploying social media services. Of course, in the future we need to get more concrete on those skills online, as well as the behaviours through which they are expressed. We also need to create strategies and implementation plans for how they can be cultivated and developed. I think here foremost of the communication skills, literacy, participatory, critical skills, that are enabling us to socialize, network, learn, and collaborate.

Feel free to comment on the types of digital divide and inequalities you have noticed or experienced lately. Your observations and thoughts are welcomed – this is going much further than I expected!

Finally, news of my own progress. A book chapter I wrote should be published next year I hope. Meanwhile, my dissertation has entered the final phase of qualitative research and writing up. Now more than ever I am ready for new engagements and collaborations, projects and initiatives in the upcoming year – 2012. Feel free to email me if you are interested in working/collaborating with me – or indeed if your company needs me! Wishing you the very best for the holidays!

Photo credits: mimax

This is a post on what I was working on in the last few weeks, writing a book chapter for the great edition on the Internet and digital inequalities in International perspective including International contributors, and submitting some other papers on social networks and communication dynamics online.

Since many of you asked me on Twitter, Facebook, email, Skype what the book chapter is about – I just wanted to share with you just a piece of it (the book is supposed to be published next year). It is individual work that is the result of several years of experience, observing, recent talking and writing on different kinds of digital and social divides, social media and communication practices present on the Internet, and recently measured by quantiative and qualitative research of mine. In short my focus for this book was on Internet and social media in European perspective – Balkan countries, and Serbia in particular. My manuscript is theoretically grounded on social theories developed by the classical sociologists like Max Weber, Giddens, Meyorwitz and I applied them to the issues of Internet inequality. Weber’s stratification theory is grounded in the core perspective on inequality in my case, where I provided a concise interpretation of sociology’s theoretical perspective.

In addition to the classical sociological perspectives, I also observed inequalities from a communication theories point of view and computer-mediated communication (CMC). I  explored communication practices and possibilities that are present on the Internet (from interaction to collaboration).  With this research, I offered an understanding of social inequality in the hyper-connected information-driven globally networked world and I focused on South Eastern Europe (SEE) as it was interesting for me to observe countries in transition, where the political, economic and social turbulence of the nineties of the previous century have influenced its culture and ethical values, as well as the development of the ICTs and the creation of an online public sphere (Radovanovic, 2010). The observations and findings do not differ much from other European/SEE countries, very similar dynamics have been found.

However, I have examined the paradox of how moving beyond digital divides in the context of the technological infrastructure and Internet access that would permit us to tackle other existing problems such as digital inequalities (digital literacies, critical thinking skills/crap detector to navigate and evaluate data online, information/knowledge management and sharing, networking/notworking, etc.)  in order to explore the differences in how  people use the Internet not just in their everyday lives, but also for learning, communication and collaborative purposes. In doing so, I have used statistical data, national and international reports analysis, trying to fill the gap in the existing reports and data, using sources not used before, and presenting some empirical evidence that cannot be found in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) or  Statistical Office of The Republic of Serbia (SORS) documents.

I have presented some of the findings from research, web studies, online surveys and interviews, and I have raised some important questions and shed light on current issues to be solved in the future. A colleague from History and Social sciences department at the University of Oxford has helped me with theoretical framework, and I hope that my modest contribution in theory and practice will help Internet practitioners and governments in the future to design new strategies and policies that will overcome the issues I’ve been addressing.

I am more than pleased to talk and write more about this and other social media/Internet related topics in the future, and I’m currently open for collaborations and co-authorships for 2012 – both in practice and research. Feel free to contact me via email. Next month I’m advising Civic Society representatives as Social Media Consultant and participating in a very interesting TechCamp in Euro-zone, so I’ll write about it more in the upcoming posts.

I have been interviewed last month for the Open Society Foundations Blog on various topics related to digital use, online social interactions, digital divide, social networks and young adults in Southeastern Europe. I’m finding some interesting patterns that show what kinds of strategies policymakers should use to create and implement in education, government, etc.

Currently, I’m into data analysis, EDA, and writing, so you may not see me around that often. Check my Twitter updates and for the urgencies, comments, sharing, and caring feel free to email me.

[crossposting] Digital Serendipities in Southeastern Europe

As an Open Society Foundations Chevening scholar at the University of Oxford in 2009, and now as a PhD student at the Oxford Internet Institute, Danica Radovanovic focuses on the use of social new communication technologies in Southeastern Europe. Following her presentation on the “digital divide” in higher education at a recent Open Society Scholarship Programs conference for alumni from the Balkans, I spoke to Danica about the impact of online social interactions, especially in the Balkan region.

Why is it valuable to research online social trends, and how do you see your research contributing in that area?

It is important to understand and evaluate how people, markets, the economy and politics are moving from offline to online worlds and vice versa. I believe that research in social media and new communication technologies plays a crucial role in analyzing our society and in how these technologies could be deployed globally for other purposes, from education to crisis resolution.

We are witnessing a new stage in the Facebook and Twitter era, not only in official news reporting, but in global, real-world events. From revolutions in Egypt and Libya, recent livestream from the White House, natural disasters in Haiti and Japan, to more mundane news like about the music industry, are likely to be published first on micro-blogging sites and social networks. Therefore, researching current trends, and as well as attempting to predict, is crucial for world developments.

For your PhD, you are currently researching young people in Southeast Europe.  Are modes of conversation changing, and does this differ between countries, regions, or populations?

As my preliminary research data indicates, young adults in the Southeastern Europe and the Balkans do not differ in their communication practices from their peers elsewhere in the world. They are interested in the same things as the previous generations: they spend their time online and on social networks for very clear, understandable, social reasons.  They want to interact with their peers, friends from pre-existing networks, in everyday life and make new connections.

I’m exploring communication practices in the social web, with a particular focus on media and conversation practices. Networked culture is in permanent flux, and I’m interested in how digital media is embedded in a broader sociocultural and educational framework in countries in transition, where political, economic, and social turbulence has influenced culture and values, as well as the creation of the online public sphere.

Undoubtedly, higher education and social media are converging at considerable speeds, albeit with arguably differing results. What is your take on the current successes and failures from your research perspective?

From my research, I find all parties in higher education, that is, students, teachers, institutions, ministries, and governments, divided in two groups:techno optimists and techno pessimists. Teachers and students need to communicate and collaborate more. For example, students complained that professors don’t reply to their emails promptly, or they would like to see them more using blogs, wikis, social networks, and even Skype.

On the other side, traditional teachers and professors tend to stick to basic Internet services such as email or listservs, while younger professors and teaching assistants are more liberal and encouraging young adults to use such outlets as social bookmarking, web-based file sharing services, academic social networks, online databases, and e-learning software, which is promising. Of course, this varies from university to university, but in general, collaborative and participatory practices and the fostering of critical thinking skills are important for higher education in the Balkans, as in any region. I’m working on data analysis and planning qualitative research which will support the data from my current project. Hopefully I shall have more a detailed answer at that point!

However, for me, higher education institutions should create a local strategic development plan where the implementation of social media, 21st-century literacies, and the culture of communication and collaboration should be fostered and improved. It is very important that policy makers, educators, and the media realize that the Internet is yet another channel for communication and not an evil tool, but also not some magic wand that will solve all their problems.

Have you found any negative trends in embracing the virtual world?

Similar communication and behavioral practices could be spotted in Southeastern Europe with regard to the misuse of digital technologies. They are mostly connected with spending too much time online when one should be at work, a lack of critical thinking skills, differentiating true from false information on the Internet, a low attention span, privacy breaches, and so on.  Being “digital natives,” children nowadays first learn how to play computer games, but are often unable to question the credibility of information found online. Promoting and practicing information and digital literacy should be among the requirements for collaboration between schools and educational program developers.

All communication practices found in everyday life are mirrored online and magnified. It is worth mentioning that the culture of collaboration is not developed yet in Southeastern Europe, and it is important to design practices which would engage everyone.

What are your current plans and projects?  You have a blog—what is your aim with it on a personal level? What audience are you attempting to reach?

Blogging at Digital Serendipities is something I have done since 2003.  I write about technological adventures and moving between the offline to online world. It’s about people and connections in both worlds. My audience is wide: from Internet scholars and developers, social media people, marketing, media professionals, students, and anyone interested in technology, communications, and media.

In  the future, teaching could be an interesting and challenging opportunity since I have been a lecturer and instructor at the School of Web Journalism teaching Introduction to Web 2.0 and Online Social Networks. I’m glad when my former students send an email with their recent successes thanking me for motivation and teaching them some specific skill.

As a global citizen I’m interested in the next generation of web technologies, implemented not only in education but other areas as well, from collaborative web projects and platforms to emerging information and communication technologies markets.

Check out Danica’s website Digital Serendipities, and follow her on Twitter

I have just returned from OSF/Chevening conference where I’ve talked on the higher education panel, as the University of Oxford Alumni, the only Internet scholar, and information management specialist, on bridging the digital divide in the super connected world.
Slides of my presentation are on my SlideShare and the podcast is at my account on SoundCloud with all descriptions, credits, and tags. The recorded talk covers three major concerns in Internet and social media and higher education, all applicable in other areas: literacies, knowledge gap, and notworking/not collaboration. Interaction, thoughts, and comments of the audience are not included. I talked pretty fast, since I wanted to give more space for discussion, thoughts, sharing. I hope you will understand what I was talking about.

I would like to inform you that Call for papers for the workshop Making Sense of Microposts (MSM) at the Extended Semantic Web conference 2011 is announced. The workshop is interdiscipinary and gathers academics and professionals from the Semantic Web technologies and Social/Web Science studies. Also, have in mind that we will have a best paper award. (I’m on the Steering committee.)

Information about the topics of interest, submissions, and important dates could be found on the MSM web page.

“Making Sense of Microposts” (MSM), will cover the topics of: information extraction and leveraging of semantics from Microposts; making use of Microposts’ semantics; and social studies related to Microposts that could help build appealing new systems based on this type of data. The workshop has two main points of difference from existing Social Semantic Web workshops which partially treat Microposts: (a) the interdisciplinary nature and interest to bring together the Social Sciences and Semantic Web research; (b) the focus on Microposts’ usage in making appealing tools for Web users and showing how the Semantic Web makes a difference in those applications. One of the main goals of MSM is to bring together the researchers from various disciplines treating the question of Microposts from different angles. We are particularly interested in submissions describing theories from the Social Sciences related to the creation and potential usage of Microposts that could inspire the creation of data structures, ontologies and finally interfaces that make advanced use of Microposts. We also envisage submissions that describe the application of Semantic Web technologies, either in enabling the inference of new facts, or the gleaning and enriching of knowledge from collections of such data.

It has been (already!) ten years since the Wikipedia started its activities as self-organized encyclopedia, global phenomenon gathering many volunteers world wide to collaborate in and contribute to this information and knowledge entity. As Social web researcher and an Internet Scholar I believe in the power of knowledge and collaborative ideas, actions as well as in free and open source information and knowledge, online communities and their power to make a difference. I’ve been writing (my Master thesis), blogging, participating, and contributing to this project, and for me Wikipedia is an excellent example of transparent, collaborative, and participatory information and knowledge movement and growing online community.

Working for over a decade in a related area, I perceive Wikipedia as an upgrowing phenomenon, a sustaining global change, where participation and interaction between contributors and users are very important. All of these present the future of the next generation of Web so Wikipedia has a bright future. With some concerns.

Being someone who’s involved indirectly and directly in Wikipedia and Wikimedia activities I want to emphasize three important points (not the only issues that Wikipedia has to embrace) in the years to come, as Wikipedia evolves globally sharing free information. First, it is increasingly important to have strong local chapters which are accessible to everyone. Achieving the balance is hard, but I believe that through the participation it is possible. All of you are showing every day that the focus on motivation and the mixture of the “ideology and fun” will deliver the strongest results. Beside further chapters formation, I’m also looking forward to seeing more lead initiatives in the higher education: engaging schools, universities and libraries, and social technology implemented in Wikimedia projects, which will increase the quality and the credibility of the content. And third equally important point is: I hope the focus, in the adolescence years of Wikipedia, will be on activities and projects in the developing countries, emerging, third world countries, where the access to the open and free information many times is not available. Also, I hope that the sharp divide between global West and global South and other developing ares in the world will slowly diminish.

With good hopes and good spirit, lots of good cheer, I wish everyone who is contributing to Wikipedia to stay creative, motivated, positive and inspired. I’m looking forward to collaborating with you in the upcoming years, I’m wishing you a happy birthday Wikipedia!

The Asphalt Orchestra today have opened the TEDWomen, conference dedicated to women who are (re)shaping the future, sharing an amazing talks from the fields they have pioneered. Event is taking place in Washington, DC,  December 7-8, 2010, and I have been privileged to get the access, live tweet out,  right now there is a break in between the sessions.  You can find my tweets here (with #tedwomen), talks are changing very fast and the schedule is not necessarily strictly prompt. Follow the hashtag #TEDWomen for all other tweets on live talks. TedWomen started on Day One with hilarous Hans Rosling who talked about the usage of the earth energy and the environment in the Western and emerging counties using ingenious allegories, while  Hanna Rosin talked on the importance of education and gender equality, some stereoptyes in this context, and new female superheros.  Elizabeth Lindsey, ethnographer of the National Geographic Society, gave an amazing performance of chanting on stage, talking about navigation and information overload; while Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg talked on balancing business and private life.

The next day women from the sessions “Composers”, “Harmony &Discord”, and “Crescendo”, got my attention with inspiring talks on various topics. MBI (molecular breast imaging) inventor Dr Deborah Rhodes, showed how gamma method is more punctual than mammography in breast cancer detection, stressing out that the manuscript on MBI was rejected by four scientific journals because “the conflict of interest”, and it is finally to be published in Journal of Radiology. Something to think about science, humanity, ethics, and scientific publishing.

Amber Case, digital philosopher and Cyborg Anthropologist, started her talk with “All of you are Cyborgs every time you look at computer screen”, emphasising that people don’t take time for mental (self)reflection anymore, and kids today live the instant button clicking culture. Cyber anthropology is interdisciplinary area so there’s a lot to say about the above mentioned topics. Kate Orff, environmentalist architect,  introduces the new invention, hero of the ecology and urbanism ‘the oyster” that improves ecosystems. Roboticist, Cynthia Breazeal, who founded personal robot at MIT, talked about robots (applications) in the communication technologies: screen, mobile, expressive, performing collaborative tasks, and social engagement.

Surprise speaker on stage was The US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, talking about women issues world wide, introducing the new project with the deployment of technology: Mobile Justice initiative in the third world countries, e.g. Africa, where women can memo their testimonials or record the files on the mobile phones. Naomi Klein, author and activist, talked on the recent oil disaster, climate crisis and the environment, emphasising that the problem is our master narrative: “we are going to be saved”, but our secular religion is technology. Jody Williams, Nobel peace laureate, had the punch line: “taking the action to reclaim the meaning of peace.” I liked her creative idea that planting the trees may be the solution to peace and for the environment perseverance.

Iranian artist in exile Shirin Neshat shared her personal story and life challenges through identity, politics, religion, and talked about her debut film: Woman without Man, based on the banned novel by Shahrnush Parsipur who spent five years in prison. Joan Halifax, Zen Priest, addressed an issue of the compassion and its challenges, in a similar pathos as Donna Karan, fashion designer, who shared her story on birth and death transformations in the critical moments in her life.

The culmination of  TEDWomen conference was touching, wonderful story of  Eve Ensler, best known for her play Vagina Monologues, founder of V-Day movement to end violence against women and girls globally. Beside The Monologues, she talked about other women stories world wide, how she perceived her body, how she felt her body when she realised that she had a cancer, and how she is perceiving it now. This brave women finished her talk with “if you are divided from your body, then you are divided from the body of the world”, giving the recipe for the survival of women with issues and challenges: attention and resources are that everybody deserves.

Those were my personal notes (in short) and tweet highlights, for other information check out the full program and the bios of the speakers. It was an interesting conference and I’m looking forward to see in the future more inspiring, strong, creative, innovative women world wide who are reshaping the world and making the difference while, as the former  US Secretary of State mentioned, supporting each other. Maybe next time I’d come up with my innovative ideas to share them with you. Now I’m asking: what you can learn from these strong women who inspire, and other powwerful women in your surrounding?