Inequality and the Era of e-Governance: The Pandemic Emergency as a Watershed

The Covid-19 pandemic emergency can be regarded as a turning point towards the intensification of digitalisation and algorithm governance, and the post-pandemic surge of artificial intelligence applications in various spheres of private and public life. The rhetoric of the “new normal” is the epitome of this direction, which society was supposed to take. Focusing on the British case, this chapter explores how, while offering new opportunities, this technological expansion also opens up new gaps in areas that were less relevant before the pandemic but are now significantly affecting people’s welfare, from digital access and remote working to the management of important aspects of their life, such as access to healthcare. The chapter investigates the post-pandemic acceleration of digital applications and AI technologies, how they intersect, influence and are incorporated into various spheres of life—including the job market, intellectual production and intellectual property rights, and healthcare—and how they perpetuate old inequalities, or create new ones. The discussion addresses some ethical and social implications of these technologies, and the influence they might have on e-governance and legislation in this field.