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INPRIMATU
Technology
Digital exclusion in COVID-19 times
Diana Franco Eguren 2021eko abenduaren 21a

Bringing life forward and enjoying it is the greatest expectation of many. The maintenance of this well-being in the society we have created, however, implies a great deal of management with public and private institutions. And we don't have that internalized enough yet. The digital transformation continues and, consequently, the ways in which the management is carried out. Today I am going to focus on some of the problems that the digital transformation of the administration has brought, in the basic intervention services that work with people at risk.

Since the beginning of COVID-19 the service of attention to public institutions has changed, the in-person care model is disappearing, and to find a person on the other side you have to perform a series of digital processes: previous appointments, previous questionnaires, self-management... Fewer people, more automated processes. But in the meantime, in our society, we have a lot of realities: people who don't know how to read, people who are irregular and not in databases, people who don't understand language ... Moreover, many do not understand the organisation of the administration related to the management of the different competences (work, social security, finance, health, education...). How are people in situations of exclusion managed? In some cases, they go to people and entities that have their problem as a way of business, that is, to those who charge to carry out their management: With the security risks involved in obtaining the COVID-19 certificate, get the BAKQ or Cl@ave...

Many others use basic intervention services. They seek the help of a trusted person. The need for interpersonal care has not disappeared with COVID-19, but has shifted. The problem seems marginal in our great society, but it is great for people and these agents at risk of exclusion. We must work on the path of a digitization model that puts people and life at the center.