Digital inclusion in a disadvantaged Swedish suburb – Trust and participation to form Quality of Government

Abstract

Digital inclusion is the key for a sustainable and inclusive society. In particular, digital governmental services must be impartial, inclusive and available for everyone eligible for the services. Digital inclusion is a key for trust of government in a more digital society. However, the motives access, use and competences to be digital included varies in line with other forms socio-economic stratification. It is also complicated to reach those who are digital excluded in traditional survey methods. This paper presents a field study on digital inclusion in a disadvantaged Swedish suburb, where we made a structured interview survey to reach groups that are usually hard to survey. The analysis shows that those who find it easy to search on the Internet also experience more inclusion in the Swedish society. In addition, more advanced use as on-line payments and use of eID seems to increase the trust in public authorities. Thereby, digital inclusion can be seen as a factor enhancing even quality of government, that has to be further investigated.