While the dematerialization of public services is accelerating rapidly, many studies(Agence du numérique, Conseil national des Villes, Commissariat général à l'égalité des territoires, France Stratégie, Défenseur des droits,COEPIA, Emmaus Connect) are analyzing and documenting the difficulties encountered by people who are far from the digital world when exercising their rights.
In the wake of quantitative surveys that highlight the extent of digital exclusion and insecurity(Digital Barometer, "Capacity" survey, CSA survey on Illectronism), the Regional Directorate of Youth, des Sports et de la Cohésion Sociale (DRJSCS) of the Hauts-de-France region has entrusted the University of Lille (Master Intervention et Développement Social) with the realization of a qualitative study to "gather the voice of vulnerable groups in the face of the digital transition"in order to better identify the expectations and needs of these categories of users.
This research work focuses on three questions:
- In what way does the context of dematerialization of public services raise the issue of illiteracy?
- How are the digital usage experiences of vulnerable groups tested by dematerialization?
- To what extent can administrative dematerialization represent a risk factor for non-use of social rights?
The study released by the DRJCS is full of testimony.
"We won't have anyone in front of us to ask questions, we won't find answers on the site."Leïla, a young woman of 32, expresses, among many others, her fears about the context of dematerialization: "For 2022, I had already been explained that as it is implemented it is to... be aware of what. But... it's difficult! Frankly, I who went to school and everything, it's already difficult for me, and for those who didn't go to school, those who don't know how to use the sites and everything? That's also what we have to be careful about, we have to think about... For the elderly, people who don't speak French... that's also what's going to be difficult for them! [...] Frankly, now more and more things will have to be done via Internet. We won't have anyone in front of us to ask questions, we won't find answers on the site. It's clearer when you talk to someone, they give you more clear information and you feel more confident." All these testimonies reveal the reservations that many of the respondents share about the pervasiveness of digital technology, which is perceived as both a constraint and a risk. Through their concerns, other issues emerge: access to rights and the threat of non-use, situations of dependence for people unable to be autonomous on the Internet, etc.
- The first chapter of the study reviews the context of the emergence and evolution of e-administration in France and " the political construction of illiteracy". It offers "a sociological look at the meaning of the notions of 'digital divide', 'vulnerability' and 'non-use'.
- The second chapter presents the results of the field survey. Focusing on the testimonies of the users we met, it describes the various ways in which the elderly and people in precarious situations experience the digital transition on a daily basis. Focusing first on the dimension of digital equipment, this chapter examines the dimension of digital usage experiences and highlights the way in which the use of e-administration fits into the administrative path of the respondents and their perceptions of "the progressive dematerialization of their public services.
- The third chapter shows the situations of recourse to e-government "by highlighting its positive points but also the risks of non-recourse that it can generate". Faced with these risks, the authors expose the multiple strategies developed by vulnerable groups in order to preserve access to services and their social rights.
- A final chapter summarizes the main findings and lessons learned from the study and proposes a series of recommendations for an inclusive digital transition in the Hauts-de-France region.
Summary of the study
The digital transition, social issues and sociological questions
1. The digital transition and the modernization of public services
- Some milestones for a history of the dematerialization of administrative procedures in France, in relation with the European context
- E-administration in France, an evolving public service
- Illectronism: the political construction of a social problem
2. The fight against illiteracy in Hauts-de-France: origins and challenges
- A concern of the State in the Region
- The challenges of digital inclusion in access to rights for vulnerable people
3. From the order to the sociological questioning
- The multiple faces of the digital divide
- Two "vulnerable" audiences facing the digital transition
- The digital transition, a risk for the use of social rights?
4. Survey methodology
- The survey protocol
- Conducting the field survey
Living the digital transition on a daily basis
1. Be equipped with digital tools
- Which equipment for which public?
- Levers and obstacles to equipment
- Which tools for which uses?
2. Being a digital user
- Which uses for which audiences?
- The challenges of digital use for the respondents
3. Being a digital citizen
- E-administration in the respondents' administrative path
- Respondents' views on the 2022 objective
Recourse and non-recourse: risk factors and strategies
- Use and non-use of social rights in the context of e-administration
- Users' situations: digital experiences in accessing rights
- Risk factors for non-use
2. Users' strategies for dealing with the risk of non-use
- In-the-moment strategies: forms of e-administration avoidance
- Anticipatory strategies: a quest for digital autonomy
Conclusion and recommendations for an inclusive digital transition: Encouraging digital learning for vulnerable groups
- Audiences in difficulty with digital technology
- Existing initiatives to be developed
2. Promote accessibility and develop confidence in e-government for vulnerable groups
- People who have difficulty with e-administration
- Facilitate the administrative process for users
3. Support isolated territories in their digital transition
- Paradoxical territorial situations: between high needs and low resources
- Ensure a territorial network of "administrative assistance" actors
Recommendations
- To allow the greatest number of people to have access to equipment and a connection
- Develop spaces that provide access to digital equipment free of charge.
- Promote wider access to training
- Improve the quality of digital training
- Continue the development of a "platform state
- Clarify and simplify e-administrative communication and information
- Facilitate the understanding of administrative language
- Ensure multimodal use of the administration for users
- Take users' opinions into account to guarantee digital public services adapted to all.
- Making digital technology a tool to facilitate access to social rights
- Strengthen public facilities for the permanent reception of the public
- Encourage mobile devices to assist the public with administrative procedures
- Strengthen measures for territories and populations in difficulty
Three studies on digital inclusion issues in Hauts-de-France
As part of the "Digital inclusion and fight against illiteracy in Hauts de France" plan, the Hauts-de-France Regional Directorate for Youth, Sports and Social Cohesion (DRJCS) has commissioned three studies.- Territorial diagnosis of the fight against illiteracy in the Hauts-de-France(University of Lille (UFR of Geography and Urban Planning - Institute of Urban Planning and Development of Lille - Master 2 Urban Planning and Development)
- The dematerialization of administrative procedures, a new challenge for social workers (Regional Institute of Social Work of Hauts-de-France (State Diploma of Social Engineering)
- The digital transition, threat or opportunity for the use of social rights (University of Lille, Master 2 Strategies of Social Development)
