Diversity & Inclusion in Universal Access to Technology - A Perspective

Diversity and inclusion are important business priorities, as they link positively to productivity and better end-clientengagement. Digital technology has demonstrated that it can connect people into effective teams with significant advantages ineducation, e-commerce, medicine, and health. This observation supports the need to ensure universal access to digital technology,irrespective of economic, social, and cultural background. The ongoing pandemic underscores this. Nevertheless, access to technology is not universal. Barriers exist even in the most advanced economies. Also, the technology itself must be conceived to be inclusive and should not create new barriers nor enhance existing ones, such as language, age, or mobility. Literature showsthat digital technology brings new risks in terms of misinformation, cyber-fraud, and cyber-bullying. Universal access to technology (UAT) requires a collaborative effort to achieve the benefits and minimize the consequences of unethical use. This paper focuses on UAT through education. This paper discusses the importance of diversity and inclusion in UAT as well as the challenges associated with achieving that goal.