Digitalization and Exclusion—Digital Divides and Development

Despite the massive social deepening and spread of digital technologies, there are groups of the people who are facing exclusions from the same. The exclusions are often driven along some social planes, geographies, or individual attributes. Such social planes and personal attributes are class, caste, religion, language, race, education, age, gender, disabilities, etc. As digital technologies become important tools in governance processes, media, and the market, the exclusion can have massive spatial, social, and individual consequences. They may lead to educational deprivation, lack of access to health care, democratic participation, exclusion in smart cities, financial exclusion, and even from citizenship which is now being determined by digital inclusion. Additionally, the exclusions of certain groups of people and individuals can also result from digitally enabled surveillance as today digital cameras or CCTVs have become ubiquitous and often lead to recognition of those who face exclusion through monitoring.