Lecture 6 –

Social Context of Computing

Learning Objectives
After the completion of the chapter, the students will be
able to:
• explain the impact of the digital divide
• discuss the social context of a particular software /
hardware implementation
• describe the positive and negative ways in which
computing alters the modes of interaction among
people;
• explain how income, geography, race and culture
influence access to information technology and
technology in general
• analyze the role and risks of computing in the
implementation of public policy and government.
The Digital Divide
- technological inequalities among people in one country and
between countries
Key critical issues:
• Whether there is such a thing as a digital divide
• Indicators that should be used to measure such a divide if
it exists and
• The best ways to close such a divide.
 Access

- crucial component in the Obstacles:

digital divide • Geography
- involves obstacles that exist • Income
even if all the other remaining • Ethnicity
indicators are in place
• Age
• Education
Geography
There is a big digital divide between the rich industrialized
countries and the poor, less industrialized countries. The poor,
developing countries, geographically are more deprived of the
access to information
Digital inclusion describes the effort to ensure that every
individual and community has access to Information
Communication Technology (ICT), along with the skills to make
use of it.
Geography
There is a big digital divide between the rich industrialized
countries and the poor, less industrialized countries. The poor,
developing countries, geographically are more deprived of the
access to information
Digital inclusion describes the effort to ensure that every
individual and community has access to Information
Communication Technology (ICT), along with the skills to make
use of it.
Income
- Greatest predictor of Internet and other ICT technologies’ use
Key findings (ICT):
• Broadband at home
• Internet use
• Mobile phones ownership
Ethnicity
- One’s ethnicity has a great influence on ICT access
There have been interesting changes in the issue of
ethnicity and access to ICT technologies. These dramatic
changes have been brought about by the rapid changes in
modern communication technologies, more specifically Internet-
able mobile communication technologies.
Age
• there were 85.16 million internet users in the Philippines at the
start of 2023, when internet penetration stood at 73.1%.
• The Philippines was home to 84.45 million social media users in
January 2023, equating to 72.5 percent of the total population.
• Filipinos have the highest average screen time spent on
phones, and rank consistently high for average screen times on
computers, social media and gaming.
• Filipinos spend nearly a third of their day (32.53%) on their
phones
• younger people are more likely than older adults to own a phone
in the Philippines (41%)
Education
The profound impact of the educational digital divide on
students' overall development, safety, and welfare, as well as
their potential for present and future success, has led numerous
community and business leaders to consider addressing this
issue at a local level
• Universal Connectivity/Enhancing Connectivity
• Adaptable Educational Platforms
• Engaging with Families on an Individual Basis
 Technology

Technology is shaping our contemporary society. Here are

several ways in which it is enhancing our everyday existence:
• Enhancing Business Efficiency
• Enhanced Communication Speed
• Advanced Lifestyle
• Information Availability
Hardware
There has been a steady increase in the number of
computers, telephones, and other modern communication
technologies in almost all countries of the world in the last
couple of years, quantity, quality, and maintenance of these
technologies are still a big problem, challenging the narrowing
of the ICT digital divide
Software
Countries that have seen benefits from ICT, either produce
their own software or they have enough financial capacity to
source software with few problems. This is not the case in
many developing countries.
 Humanware
(Human Capacity)
Human capacity development is complex usually consisting of many parts
including:
• Creating awareness of the potential for ICT to meet one’s needs
• Creating, developing, and strengthening capacity to use information
and ICT effectively, using local inputs
• Building capacity to produce and package information so that it adds
value to local inputs
• Ensuring ongoing technical capacity development and developing a
format for knowledge and information sharing
• Preventing the local capacity from being drained to other, usually
developed countries.
 Infrastructure

- Fixed communication structures

- The availability of these resources helps to speed up the
development of ICT
 Enabling
Environments

An ICT-enabling environment is an environment in which ICT

can thrive. There are several things that can bring about such
an environment, including :
• politics
• public policy and management styles
Politics
ICT thrives in a good political environment that ensures:
• A climate of democratic rights and civil liberties
conducive to ICT adaptation
• Respect for the rule of law and security of property rights
• Investment in human capacity
• Low levels of government distortions.
Public Policy and Management Styles
There are currently ICT-related laws and policies on the books
which are not enforced. Such policies must be updated where
necessary and enforced strictly and fairly. New competitive policies
such as the liberalization of the telecommunication and energy
sectors must be developed, and the sectors must be staffed with
competent managers with appropriate expertise. These ICT
regulatory policies need to be efficient, predictable, and easy to
understand. Licensing bodies need to be efficient and staffed with
professionals. In addition, there must be government support for
taxing policies. Finally, there must be transparency in government to
create a moral bar for the rest of the country.
 Obstacles to Overcoming the
Digital Divide
- digital divide requires
considerable efforts and a plan in addressing
the following types of access:
• Physical access
• Financial access
• Political access
• Cultural access
 ICT in the Workplace

The automation of the workplace has been the most vigorously

pursued concept since the industrial age. Despite the original
fear that workplace automation would mean the end to human
work, except in a few areas, workplace automation has
proceeded hand in hand with increases in employment
numbers.
The Electronic Office
- a technology-augmented office with knowledgeable employees.
The technology in the environment may include computers and
computer-driven devices that help in interpersonal oral and
electronic communication; distribution and receipt of
correspondence; telecommunication devices with text-processing
and storage capabilities to enable the office staff to design, develop,
edit, and store material electronically; and other office support
equipment to streamline decision-making tasks.
The Electronic Office
2 Factors Fueling the Growth of Electronic Office
1. Increasing productivity of office employees, to counter
the rising costs of office operations
2. Acquiring of technology necessary to handle the ever-
increasing complexity and modernization of office
communication and decision-making processes.
Office on Wheels and Wings
As electronic gadgetry has been invading the office and the
overall workplace, workers have been leaving the office in
droves, a few of them replaced by the new technology, others
transplanted by it, but many for the experience of working
outside their original office confines.
The Virtual Workplace
With the latest developments in telecommunication and
computer technology, the virtual workplace is home to
increasing type of employees who work very briefly in their
corporate workplaces, are mostly on the road, and often
telecommute using personal or company-provided equipment.
This breed of worker is rarely in a fixed workplace, but
nevertheless he or she performs a full day’s work even if at
the beach.
The Quiet Revolution: The Growth of Telecommuting
Categories of Telecommuters
1. workers who use their homes as an adjunct to their
conventional office jobs
2. consists of workers who use their homes as the base for
their businesses
3. consists of those who have full-time jobs with large
companies but prefer through their own initiative to work
from home.
The Quiet Revolution: The Growth of Telecommuting
Company Role in Telecommuting
The home office has always been prompted by new advances
in technology and by the need of businesses to become more
productive with minimum expenditures. As the Internet and
globalization open up new international competition and as
new technologies make telecommuting more acceptable to
employees, company-sponsored telecommuters will increase.
The Quiet Revolution: The Growth of Telecommuting
Effects and Benefits of Telecommuting (individual)
1. Gender
2. Nature of Work
3. Labor Supply
4. Age
The Quiet Revolution: The Growth of Telecommuting
Effects and Benefits of Telecommuting (employees and
employers)
• eliminates the time, trouble, and expense of physically
commuting to work.
• translate directly and immediately into more discretionary
time, less stress, and general health improvements.
The Quiet Revolution: The Growth of Telecommuting
Effects and Benefits of Telecommuting (employees and
employers)
• More autonomy in work decisions and having more control
over time and more flexibility in job variations.
• Less commuting expenses on an individual.
• More quality time with family with less to no frustration at
home
The Quiet Revolution: The Growth of Telecommuting
Effects and Benefits of Telecommuting (employees and
employers)
• Employers benefit from the extra productivity that has been
reported to be consistently at 10–15% in many studies in
the last two decades.
• Employers also save on expenses through having fewer
employees on company premises
Employee Social and Ethical Issues
Office automation is used to conjure up terrifying images of
less control, helplessness, joblessness, and the stagnation of
humanity. Within the context of office automation, the concept
implies the idea of massive layoffs because offices with
intelligent machines may require fewer people.
Employee Social and Ethical Issues
Diskilling - stripping an employee of job skills as a result of
changes either in job content or procedures
Intraoccupational - case the skill content of the job
decreases over time
Entraoccupational - very few people gain the skills
needed for the job, causing either low-paying jobs or layoffs
Employee Social and Ethical Issues
Factors that prevent diskilling
• The willingness of employees to retrain and use the newly
acquired technology
• The historical patterns show that more efficient production
techniques lead to expanded operations and added growth,
which leads to more hiring rather than firing of existing
employees.
• more employees are usually hired to cope with the new
technology and to handle the expanded work capacity
 Employee
Monitoring

Theory X Management - characterized by a top-down autocratic style of

management in which the manager—literally from the top floor —
commanded the activities of the factory workers on the factory floor with
almost omniscient and demeaning power
Theory Y Management - put more faith and empowerment in the hands of
the employees; was hierarchical with the employee ranks broken down into
small semi-independent units
 Employee
Monitoring

Scientific Management - management is trying to wrest back control of the

work process away from the workers and slowly bring back the techniques
of Theory X.
Fear Management - aimed at keeping worker in line, just like all other
management styles, but with “voluntary” compliance by workers to
company management policies and practices they would normally have
questioned or challenged.
Workplace Privacy and Surveillance
2 Channels where the employers collect information to the
employees:
1. Voluntary channel
2. Surveillance
Electronic Monitoring
- the monitoring of employees using electronic devices
- it measures the quality and usually the quantity of work and
the ability and effectiveness of the worker
- measures the worker’s habits on and off the work premises
Electronic Monitoring
2 Important Issues that Emerged
1. Very often an intended goal of a monitoring program may
be clouded by a different goal perceived by the monitored
group.
2. The psychological effects on the monitored employees
may be more severe than previously thought and
anticipated.
Electronic Monitoring
Consequences of Electronic Monitoring
• Fear of job losing
• Reduced task variety
• Lack of individual initiatives
• Reduced or no peer social support
• Lack of self-esteem
• Lack of interest in their job
• Lack of trust among workers, between workers and supervisors, and
between supervisors and management
• Alienation
 Workplace, Employee,
Health and Productivity

Human beings always want to feel they are in control of their work and
other aspects of their lives. The changing work environment gives the
workers a choice either to work in a traditional office or from home. Choice
brings commitment and obligation. When people make a choice of their
own, they tend to commit to the requirements of their choice. The
commitment to work always translates into higher productivity quotas.
Although computer technology has given workers more control in decision
making, it has also given them new dangers in the workplace
Ergonomics
- an applied science concerned with designing human–
machine interactions that offer and maintain a safe,
comfortable, healthy, and habitable work environment.
Ergonomics
Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI)
- a set of work-related musculoskeletal disorders caused by repeated and
prolonged body movement resulting in damage to the fibrous and soft
body tissues like tendons, nerves, and muscles
Causes
- repetitive motion, forced gripping, performance stress, alienation, static
loading fixed posture, deviated wrists, and boredom
Ergonomics
Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI)
Forms of RSI
- occupational overuse syndrome (OOS), cumulative trauma disorder
(CTD), carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), and upper limb disorder (ULD)
Suggested changes in work styles and techniques:
1. Use ergonomically correct work equipment. These may include chairs,
tables, computer equipment like new keyboards, monitors, new
software, and new lighting in the workplace.
2. Use a light touch on the keyboard to place less stress on body parts.
Also, keep the wrists straight in line with your arms.
Ergonomics
Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI)
Suggested changes in work styles and techniques:
1. Take frequent breaks from your work. Do not work for long hours
without a break. Once you get a break, walk around and do some
stretching exercises.
2. Educate yourself about RSI.
3. If necessary reduce the time you spend at the computer terminal.
Ergonomics
Stress
Stress is believed to have its origins in environmental inputs, and it
appears through symptoms such as fear, anxiety, and anger. Anything that
increases the stress level of an individual ultimately endangers that
individual’s health.