Digital Inclusion Project

The profiles of the digitally excluded and vulnerable were created on the basis of research conducted by Česko.Digital as part of the Digital Inclusion project. This project addresses the question of how to improve the digital competences of people with low digital literacy who also face other forms of social exclusion.

Research in numbers

For our project, we selected a cross-section of the total 3 million people in the Czech Republic who are affected by some form of social exclusion and low digital literacy. We focus on children from excluded localities, socio-economically disadvantaged people (including Roma communities) and the elderly.

794 questionnaires collected

The questionnaires were collected electronically and on paper with the help of social workers.

61 interviews

We conducted dozens of in-depth interviews in cooperation with NGOs.

30+ participating non-profits

We have involved over 30 non-profit organizations that provide social services.

15+ volunteers involved

A team of expert volunteers from the Česko.Digital community worked on the research.

5 digital areas

Digital competences were mapped according to the European DigiComp 2.2 model.

7+1 digital profiles

We have compiled seven digital profiles and one probe using digital ethnography.

We managed to obtain data across the Czech Republic. The highest concentration of respondents within all the surveyed groups comes from the Ústí nad Labem, Olomouc and Moravian-Silesian regions. Places with less than 5 responses are marked with a dot.

How profiles of the digitally excluded and vulnerable were created

The research took place from May to July 2023
03/2023
We have mapped data on this issue in the Czech Republic.
04/2023
We have documented the experience of NGOs with target groups.
05-07/2023
We conducted our own research with the help of non-profit organizations.
What else?
We continue to look for ways to reduce digital exclusion.
11/2023
We have published the information we gathered about digital exclusion on this microsite.
08-09/2023
We compiled and published the results of the research at a press conference Having a smart phone is not enough.

Shared and critical issues of the digitally excluded and vulnerable

Across all groups surveyed, we perceive a trio of problems that we cannot solve alone. On the contrary, it would be advisable to address them systematically and through cooperation between different levels of public administration and the non-profit sector.

Communication with the state and other institutions

Digitally excluded and vulnerable people often do not want to interact with the state and downstream institutions online. They do not believe that anyone will actually address their problem. They are also afraid of what will happen to the information provided. This mistrust stems, among other things, from a lack of understanding of digital practices and previous negative experiences.
Recommendation: improve the quality of digital state services and take into account the reality of people on the margins of society in their design.

Digital fraud

Digital scams target people with low digital literacy. They do not know how to spot them or counter them effectively. Moreover, low digital literacy is often linked to low financial and media literacy. This makes these target groups particularly vulnerable.
Recommendation: in the development of media and financial literacy, pay increased attention to digital literacy.

Digital competences of the helping professions

It is often not only the target groups surveyed that have low digital literacy. Social service workers, residential care facilities and other helping professions with whom the interviewees come into contact are often not much better off. Thus, they have no one to learn good practice from.
Recommendation: systematically develop workers in the so-called helping professions in the area of digital competences.

Digital profiles as a tool

We hope that the profiles created will be a valuable source of information for the creation of services aimed at increasing digital literacy. We anticipate that non-profit organisations, government and independent design teams could benefit from them. At the same time, the profiles can serve social and outreach workers to better understand the digital needs of their clients.Other possible uses: writing applications for funding (grants), designing courses and continuing education, developing digital services for commercial companies, etc.

Go to digital profiles