Artificial Intelligence, the digital divide and new challenges for social and business transformation

The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) have opened up unprecedented opportunities: immediate access to information, reduced labour costs, global connectivity, new ways of working and distance learning. However, digitisation is not happening evenly across the world. This imbalance is known as digital divideThe lack of access to the benefits of technological transformation threatens to become a critical obstacle to economic and social development.

The pandemic highlighted this inequality: while millions of people were able to get on with their lives thanks to teleworking or online education, nearly 2.9 billion of the world's population still do not have access to the Internet.. The digital divide also has a marked gender bias, affecting 52 % of women compared to 42 % of men. These inequalities are exacerbated by geographical, socio-economic and educational factors, generating new forms of social exclusion in an increasingly digitised economy.

Today, with the emergence of the Artificial IntelligenceIn the case of the ICTs, this gap takes on an even more complex dimension. Unequal access is not only limited to technological infrastructure, but also to the digital and algorithmic literacyThe knowledge needed to understand and harness AI tools, and the ability to actively participate in a world that is organised around data, automation and digital innovation. If left unaddressed, AI can become an accelerator of inequalities, widening the gap between regions, businesses and individuals.

This symposium is intended to be a space for interdisciplinary reflection to analyse the relationship between AI, digital divide and social and business inclusionand to discuss strategies for moving towards fairer, more inclusive and sustainable digitisation.

Proposed lines of research
Papers are invited on the following topics, among others:

• E-inclusion as a way to ensure equitable access to the benefits of AI and ICTs.
• Digital and algorithmic literacy: skills needed to understand, use and critically evaluate AI.
• Gender and digital transformationInequalities in access to AI and their implications for women's employability and entrepreneurship.
• The impact of the digital divide on the employability and new labour skills in the digital economy.
• The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the role of business in bridging the digital and algorithmic divide.
• Biases in AI algorithms and their relationship to the technological discrimination.
• The role of AI in the design of public policies to reduce inequalities in access to and use of technologies.
• The digital equality as a factor of competitiveness and business growth.
• Comparative studies on the digital divide in different regions and its impact on economic and social development.
• Models of international cooperation to promote inclusive access to emerging technologies.

This symposium seeks to bring together researchers, academics and practitioners to address an essential question: how to ensure that the digital and AI-driven transformation does not become a source of inequalitybut a lever for inclusion and shared progress.