In many ways, digitalization has made the world of work a better place, supporting growth in both productivity and incomes. Yet many groups of workers, in particular, those who are already disadvantaged and marginalized such as women, older persons, and persons with disabilities, face dual challenges associated with unequal access to digital technologies compounded by the lack of capacities to use them. This lack of access to modern technologies has been even more pronounced in traditional divides – rural versus urban, and developing and emerging economies versus developed economies. Other characteristics such as age, and skills levels add to the widening of the gap. In this episode, Professor Balaji Parthasarathy of the International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore, India, and Matteo Sostero of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre discuss the digital divide and offer some ideas for narrowing it.

The future of work podcast series was created on behalf of the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

This podcast is also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Guests

Professor Balaji Parthasarathy
International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore, India

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Matteo Sostero
European Commission - Joint Research Centre

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EC-Joint Research Centre:

• Project:  The Changing Nature of Work and Skills
• Working paper series: Labour, Education and Technology
• Report: COLLEEM study on platform work
• EU policy brief: Who can telework today
• EU scoreboard/digitalisation: Digital Economy and Society Index