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Much of the discussion about new technologies and social equality has focused on the oversimplified notion of a "digital divide." Technology and Social Inclusion moves beyond the limited view of haves and have-nots to analyze the different forms of access to information and communication technologies. Drawing on theory from political science, economics, sociology, psychology, communications, education, and linguistics, the book examines the ways in which differing access to technology contributes to social and economic stratification or inclusion. The book takes a global perspective, presenting case studies from developed and developing countries, including Brazil, China, Egypt, India, and the United States.A central premise is that, in today's society, the ability to access, adapt, and create knowledge using information and communication technologies is critical to social inclusion. This focus on social inclusion shifts the discussion of the "digital divide" from gaps to be overcome by providing equipment to social development challenges to be addressed through the effective integration of technology into communities, institutions, and societies. What is most important is not so much the physical availability of computers and the Internet but rather people's ability to make use of those technologies to engage in meaningful social practices.

This article is about the phases through which the Brazilian education has been developing, starting from the exclusion of students with disabilities in specialized institutions which are typically therapeutically oriented to our present days, when this educational modality has been clashing with the proposals of a school for all, one and only, open to the differences, and, as a result, inclusive. The path that has been followed is focused on from the point of view of legal documents, of educational plans and policies. Finally we focus on teacher education and present some indicators by which we have been evaluating the benefits of inclusion in the Brazilian schools, through the investigations from the researchers at LEPED (Laboratory of Studies and Research in Teaching and Diversity)/ Unicamp - São Paulo/ Brazil.

The social appropriation of Internet technologies is emerging as a research and practice field called Community Informatics (CI). Various research groups (for example Australia, UK, Canada, Latin America, Italy etc.) are contributing to Government's gradual realisation that the enabling of communities with Internet technologies can boost local economic and social development, as well as enhance personal empowerment. Civil society digital inclusion, linked with World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), is now seen as a necessary component of social development strategy. However, various attempts at such initiatives have met different forms of resistance and various levels of success. Cape Technikon is establishing a research hub in Cape Town as part of the international CIRN (Community Informatics Research Network). This project will aim to establish a research, teaching and community engagement platform in Community Informatics (the social appropriation of Internet Technologies for local benefit) which will link Cape Technikon into a rapidly expanding international area of research and teaching as well as putting it into a national leadership position. Outputs will include demonstrated linkages with local, national and international Community Informatics efforts, the establishment of local projects and entities, the establishment of courses, the attraction of undergraduate and post graduate students, a profile with national and international funding agencies, publications, funding proposals, internal agency recognition in research and teaching, a program of high profile and internationally recognised visiting research fellows and academic sabbaticals. This paper discusses activities towards this South African initiative and experience elsewhere.

This article presents a theoretical examination of the digital divide, tracing its origins in the centre–Left social inclusion policy agenda of the 1980s and 1990s to its current status of political 'hot topic'. It then moves on to outline four conceptual limitations to conventional dichotomous notions of the digital divide and individuals' 'access' to information and communications technology (ICT): what is meant by ICT; what is meant by 'access'; the relationship between 'access to ICT' and 'use of ICT'; and a lack of consideration of the consequences of engagement with ICT. The article outlines a more sophisticated, hierarchical model of the digital divide based around these conceptual 'stages' while recognizing the mediating role of economic, cultural and social forms of capital in shaping individuals' engagements with ICT. It concludes by developing a set of research themes and questions for future examination of inequalities in individuals' use of ICT.

'Im politischen Diskurs über die Chancen und Gefahren der Informationsgesellschaft fällt seit geraumer Zeit immer wieder das Schlagwort der digitalen Spaltung oder 'Digital Divide'. Die digitale Spaltung als Metapher fehlender sozialer Inklusion in der Nutzung von Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien (IKT) beschreibt dabei 'the gap between individuals, households, businesses and geographic areas at different socioeconomic levels with regard both to their opportunities to access information and communication technologies (ICTs) and to their use of the internet for a wide variety of activities' (OECD 2001). Insbesondere auf der Ebene der EU wird 'e-inclusion' als Politikziel betont. Der Autor setzt sich in diesem Beitrag mit dem eEurope-Aktionsplan 'Eine Informationsgesellschaft für alle' (Europäische Kommission 2000) auseinander, der als Teil der so genannten Lissabon-Strategie das Ziel formuliert, Europa zur wettbewerbsstärksten und dynamischsten Wirtschaft der Welt werden zu lassen. Er soll die volle Nutzung der Informationswirtschaft, insbesondere des Internet, in Europa vorantreiben. Die folgende Untersuchung entstand im Rahmen des im IST-Forschungsprogramm der Europäischen Kommission geförderten Projekts SIBIS - Statistical Indicators Benchmarking the Information Society. Ziel dieses Projektes ist es, Daten zur Informationsgesellschaft für die Mitgliedsstaaten der EU und in einer zweiten Phase für die Beitrittskandidaten sowie für das eEurope Benchmarking zu erheben und gleichzeitig neue, teils experimentelle, Indikatoren zu entwickeln. Dabei sollte der hier vom Autor vorgestellte Index als ein Vorschlag verstanden werden, der als Prototyp für weitere Indices zur ungleichen Diffusion von Technologien dienen könnte.' (Textauszug)

Information and communication technology(ies) (ICT) is tipped to play an increasingly enabling role in the inclusion and exclusion of groups from participation in the discourse of 'development', with material consequences. In affecting how 'development' is framed, discussed and practised, the conception and use of such technologies itself thus becomes an important field of discourse for the analysis of power relations in the 'developmental' field. This paper shows how a recent ICT-related initiative by the World Bank Group can be seen as an attempt to replicate its position of strength within the predominant, technocratic discourse of development, to the exclusion of alternative views of technology, and even of 'development' itself. Using a method of critical discourse analysis, the paper then examines a recent speech on ICT by the Bank's president, which provides a detailed example of the way in which existing, macro-level power structures are replicated at the micro-level of discursive practice.

Information & communication technology(ies) (ICT) is tipped to play an increasingly enabling role in the inclusion & exclusion of groups from participation in the discourse of 'development', with material consequences. In affecting how 'development' is framed, discussed & practiced, the conception & use of such technologies itself thus becomes an important field of discourse for the analysis of power relations in the 'developmental' field. This paper shows how a recent ICT-related initiative by the World Bank Group can be seen as an attempt to replicate its position of strength within the predominant, technocratic discourse of development, to the exclusion of alternative views of technology, & even of 'development' itself. Using a method of critical discourse analysis, the paper then examines a recent speech on ICT by the Bank's president, which provides a detailed example of the way in which existing, macro-level power structures are replicated at the micro-level of discursive practice. 44 References. Adapted from the source document.

Im politischen Diskurs über die Chancen und Gefahren der Informationsgesellschaft fällt seit geraumer Zeit immer wieder das Schlagwort der digitalen Spaltung oder 'Digital Divide'. Die digitale Spaltung als Metapher fehlender sozialer Inklusion in der Nutzung von Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien (IKT) beschreibt dabei 'the gap between individuals, households, businesses and geographic areas at different socioeconomic levels with regard both to their opportunities to access information and communication technologies (ICTs) and to their use of the internet for a wide variety of activities' (OECD 2001). Insbesondere auf der Ebene der EU wird 'e-inclusion' als Politikziel betont. Der Autor setzt sich in diesem Beitrag mit dem eEurope-Aktionsplan 'Eine Informationsgesellschaft für alle' (Europäische Kommission 2000) auseinander, der als Teil der so genannten Lissabon-Strategie das Ziel formuliert, Europa zur wettbewerbsstärksten und dynamischsten Wirtschaft der Welt werden zu lassen. Er soll die volle Nutzung der Informationswirtschaft, insbesondere des Internet, in Europa vorantreiben. Die folgende Untersuchung entstand im Rahmen des im IST-Forschungsprogramm der Europäischen Kommission geförderten Projekts SIBIS - Statistical Indicators Benchmarking the Information Society. Ziel dieses Projektes ist es, Daten zur Informationsgesellschaft für die Mitgliedsstaaten der EU und in einer zweiten Phase für die Beitrittskandidaten sowie für das eEurope Benchmarking zu erheben und gleichzeitig neue, teils experimentelle, Indikatoren zu entwickeln. Dabei sollte der hier vom Autor vorgestellte Index als ein Vorschlag verstanden werden, der als Prototyp für weitere Indices zur ungleichen Diffusion von Technologien dienen könnte.

This report explores whether and how the Freedom of Information Act's inclusion of electronic data is affecting (or expected to affect) US federal agency procedures, with special attention to the implications for interactions with citizens and private-sector organizations

Neste trabalho são descritos alguns dos vários tipos de uso que um surdo pode fazer da Internet. Para tal iniciamos com uma apresentação resumida sobre a história da Internet, seguida por um panorama geral sobre a condição de vida dos surdos ao longo da história da humanidade até os dias de hoje. Com base nisso, são apresentados vários recursos que a Internet pode oferecer aos surdos, no sentido de potencializar-lhes independência e melhor acesso à informação/ comunicação. Também são discutidas algumas novas potencialidades que ela pode prover a esta parte da população em um futuro próximo, através da sua evolução técnica e do surgimento e desenvolvimento de outras tecnologias.

This article tries to articulate certain drifts in 'social psychology of science' with different contributions from 'feminist studies of science.' This is done in a reflexive aim in order to analyze how gender structures intersect the practices of psychological knowledge production. In this process sexual subjects and objects of psychological knowledge are constructed. It is also stressed, the relevance given in feminist epistemologies to the analysis of subjectivities conformation in the production of science. As well as, to the role of diverse subject-knowledge-positions and its necessary democratic inclusion for a more objective and social fair science-psychology.

Theories of sociotechnical change seek to understand technology as both material and social artifacts. Actor‐network theory (ANT) offers an approach to sociotechnical change that has been criticized for emphasizing a micro‐level analysis of political strategies at the expense of larger social and cultural processes. This paper presents an approach to sociotechnical change that links the enrollment process of ANT with broader social practices, through the concept of inclusion in multiple technological frames. Inclusion in different technological frames is used to explain the sources of enrollment strategies in the early personal digital assistant (PDA) industry. Two case studies of PDA evolution (Psion, led by David Potter, and Palm, led by Jeff Hawkins) are used to illustrate the link between enrollment strategies and inclusion.

Military communications networks typically employ a gateway multiplexer to aggregate all communications traffic onto a single link. These multiplexers typically use a static bandwidth allocation method via time-division multiplexing (TDM). Inefficiencies occur when a high-bandwidth circuit, e.g., a video teleconferencing circuit, is relatively inactive rendering a considerable portion of the aggregate bandwidth wasted while inactive. Dynamic bandwidth allocation (DBA) reclaims unused bandwidth from circuits with low utilization and reallocates it to circuits with higher utilization without adversely affecting queuing delay. The proposed DBA algorithm developed here measures instantaneous utilization by counting frames arriving during the transmission time of a single frame on the aggregate link. The maximum calculated utilization observed over a monitoring period is then used to calculate the bandwidth available for reallocation. A key advantage of the proposed approach is that it can be applied now and to existing systems supporting heterogeneous permanent virtual circuits. With the inclusion of DBA, military communications networks can bring information to the warfighter more efficiently and in a shorter time even for small bandwidths allocated to deployed sites. The algorithm is general enough to be applied to multiple TDM platforms and robust enough to function at any line speed, making it a viable option for high-speed multiplexers. The proposed DBA algorithm provides a powerful performance boost by optimizing available resources of the communications network. Utilization results indicate the proposed DBA algorithm significantly out-performs the static allocation model in all cases. The best configuration uses a 65536 bps allocation granularity and a 10 second monitoring period. Utilization gains observed with this configuration were almost 17% over the static allocation method. Queuing delays increased by 50% but remained acceptable, even for realtime traffic.