TY  - JOUR
AB  - Purpose– Digital and social inclusion are becoming more talked about as approaches to what has been discussed as the digital divide. But what is digital or social inclusion? The purpose of this paper is to explore the notion of social exclusion as a variety of, sometimes conflicting, social programmes which embody ideas of what society should be. Becoming more aware of this variety of approach can give insights into programmes addressing the digital divide and the political, cultural and social aspects of policies of social inclusion.Design/methodology/approach– The paper analyses the notion of social inclusion as a variety of social policies to address social exclusion and develop the nation state. It uses an example of a telecentre in Jordan's knowledge station (KS) programme to illustrate and extend this analysis.Findings– The analysis and discussion of the KS initiative shows how different notions of social and digital inclusion are important features of strengthening the Jordanian state and are useful in analysing the relative success of this programme.Originality/value– The paper argues that analyses of digital divides and digital exclusion could be strengthened by a closer understanding of policies of social inclusion. In this way it is possible to move from technological connection as a measure of a digital divide to a more thorough understanding using social inclusion policy which illuminates social, political and cultural aspects of technological change.
VL  - 7
IS  - 2/3
SN  - 1477-996X
DO  - 10.1108/14779960910955864
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1108/14779960910955864
AU  - Al‐Jaghoub Saheer
AU  - Westrup Chris
ED  - Cathy Urquhart
ED  - Yvonne Underhill‐Sem
PY  - 2009
Y1  - 2009/01/01
TI  - Reassessing social inclusion and digital divides
T2  - Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society
PB  - Emerald Group Publishing Limited
SP  - 146
EP  - 158
Y2  - 2024/04/25
ER  -