The Case for Engagement - Informing Digital Futures: Strategies for Citizen Engagement - page 29

appears to be a good case for these activities to become an integral part of
all ICT developments.
There are a number of drivers for greater participation and engagement
and four of the most significant are presented below. The first of these re-
lates to developments in technology: nowadays it seems citizens are being
offered “ e-everything ” with the proliferation of electronic services deliv-
ered by commerce and by government. The second relates to the conse-
quences of the pace of technological change and the dangers of “ digital
divides ” emerging in society between those who have access to the bene-
fits of the new technologies and those who do not. The third relates to the
goal of increased social inclusion, i.e. the process of reducing social exclu-
sion by enhancing opportunities and equality to enable as many of the
population as possible to participate as fully as they would wish in society.
Finally, the fourth relates to the aspiration of many governments to capitalise
on the potential for new technologies to enhance the democratic process .
3.1.1 “e-everything”
The changing nature of technology is now delivering “ e-everything ” to a
vast and heterogeneous user population - the general public. Barely half a
century ago, computers filled entire rooms, were serviced by armies of
technical staff and were used by highly skilled experts engaged in 'big sci-
ence'. Programmes took hours, if not days, to run. Today, more processing
power than in those huge machines can be found in the average domestic
washing machine, and millions of people carry devices in their pockets
(PDAs, 3G mobile phones) which give them instant access to gigabytes of
computer capacity. Carrying a terabyte of memory in your pocket is ex-
pected to become a reality within the foreseeable future. Analysis by the
Institute for the Future shows the major shift which has already taken place
since 1980 regarding the availability and usage of ICT and presents the
projections for the future (see Fig. 3.1).
As a result of these developments, digital technologies have spread out
from the science lab and the workplace to have a role in every aspect of
citizens lives: schools and universities, hospitals and doctors' surgeries,
shopping and service provision, transport and travel, entertainment and lei-
sure, politics and government. The deep penetration of digital technologies
into all aspects of our lives means that we often have little choice about
whether or not to engage with new technologies: whether we realise it or
not, we are all ICT users in some way or another.