Digital city is not friendly to minorities

Now, London is recognized as one of the excellent tech city, and the UK has been developed as a digital nation.

My past entry: London is the second best tech city

However, the tide of digitalization cannot be stopped. The current prosperity will be outdated in the near future. How does the UK need to keep its merit is discussed.

ITProPortal: How the government can make the UK a leading digital nation

It should be noted that digital technology has a power to aid poor people as well as to widen the inequality. Recently, Air BNB and Uber are often focused as an innovative service which represents sharing economy. People who have an empty room or a driving time get an opportunity to earn extra money with these digital architecture. Users are able to purchase cheaper services with a mobile phone. Despite some criticism have risen, these newly developed services is gradually changing the rule of the game.

On the other hand, digital divide has been maximized in the modern era regardless of the scale of society. In the UK, the majority of companies are adopting new technologies, while others are behind them by far distance. Most entrepreneurs are aware of the importance of digital age. But there is still barriers to introduce some digital solution, such as expenditure, technical issues, and psychological resistance.

ITProPortal: The UK economy faced with a ‘digital divide’

In my experience, I felt the function of London prefectural government was highly dependent on digital solution. I used many web registration as a citizen. However, many of these services were optimized for native Londoners. My position was so special that I had difficulties to fill the requirement in some application such as council tax exemption. In this case, I finally had to post a mail to the council office after visiting a local service several times.

Digital solution is generally not friendly for minorities, because scaling is crucial for its efficacy. Analogous treatment is still needed in many areas in which a standard process has not been established. Improving effectiveness is not equal to streamlining.