The digital divide – cut off from the digital world – what now? – Radio SRF 1

https://ui-avatars.com/api/[email protected]&background=64&color=fff&font-size=0.5&rounded=false&format=pngby John Andrew — December 11, 2024 in twitter

The digital divide cuts across society and generations. Around a third of the Swiss population has only limited basic digital skills.

Legend:

The digital divide

Some have neither a smartphone nor a laptop and others lack the necessary and basic knowledge.

Keystone / Christian Beutler

As a new study shows, this increasingly includes people with low incomes and little education. These six tips will help you overcome digital deficits:

1. Buy a ticket online

Tickets are always purchased online at home on your computer or via the SBB app on your smartphone.

Ticket machines are easier to use than before, but remain sophisticated.

Man operating ticket machine in the train station. — Legend:

Digital divide

Ticket machines are a challenge for some people.

Keystone / Gaëtan Bally

In an emergency, you can dial the telephone number printed on a machine and receive help.

More than nine out of ten people will use the Internet every day in 2023.
However, almost every third person in Switzerland does not have basic digital skills.
Additionally, not all of them have actual access to the Internet. The digital divide between rich and poor is increasing.
The reasons for this digital divide are: level of education, reading skills, financial situation, age, level of urbanization of the communities.

Source: Federal Statistical Office FSO

Various local Pro Senectute sections offer help. Help is also available with tutorials, the short videos on YouTube: enter the keywords “SBB ticket machines” or “SBB app”.

2. Surfing without your own computer

The Internet café Planet 13 in Basel was founded in 2007 by people affected by poverty. It is a place where people affected and at risk of poverty can get help in the digital area: when creating an email account as well as when printing or scanning.

People work on computers in a classroom. — Legend:

Digital divide

In the Internet café “Planet13” in Basel, volunteers provide free information and support.

Planet13

Support is also available with writing applications, CVs or filling out forms. Computer courses are also offered. PCs and laptops are being repaired in an adjoining room.

To the
Basic skills
Examples include sending emails, installing an app, making online purchases, using text programs or 2-factor authentication.

Among people with only compulsory schooling, only 41 percent have it
Basic knowledge
. From the vocational school level onwards it is already 63 percent, and university graduates have the highest figure at 87 percent. While 71 percent of German-speaking Swiss have basic digital knowledge, in French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino it is only 61 and 59 percent, respectively.

Source: Mobiliar Digital Barometer 2024

A query in your own community shows whether there is an institution like Planet13 or another internet café.

3. Use the full potential of laptops etc

The first point of contact are patient family members, including spouses, children, grandchildren and good friends. Many topics are also offered in courses run by various local Pro Senectute sections.

Range of digital courses, a selection:

Android and iPhone smartphones and tablets
Whatsapp
SBB mobile app
Fairtiq/Easyride
Google search engine and cloud
Google Maps
Switzerland Mobile and Swisstopo maps
DAB+
Online shopping
Twint
Design a digital photo book
Create QR code
IT security
digital photography
Create and manage passwords
E-banking
Buying and selling online

Certain topics are also covered by various private providers. Offers range from half-day courses to larger training courses. Swisscom also offers webinars on various digital topics. The range of topics is wide.

There is help here – a selection

4. Improve reading and writing skills

People who have trouble deciphering the context of a text are at particular risk of being excluded from the digital world. Because more and more digital means more and more written, it is therefore crucial for these people to expand their reading and writing skills.

In Switzerland, around 800,000 adults have difficulty reading and writing. That's one in six people in adulthood.
Reading skills, i.e. the ability to understand a text in its context, have a major influence on digital skills. Poor reading skills or even make it impossible to participate in the Internet and digital communication.
For people who have difficulty with these basic skills, everyday situations can become very challenging. They are restricted in their everyday lives and at work, excluded from certain areas of life and can only make limited use of further training opportunities.

Source: Swiss umbrella organization for reading and writing

The Swiss umbrella organization for reading and writing and its affiliated cantonal associations offer courses in reading and writing at various levels. Caritas Switzerland and the canton of Zurich also offer further training in reading, writing and digital skills in so-called “learning rooms”.

5. Recognize dubious providers online?

On the websites of dubious suppliers of goods, addresses, contact numbers, email addresses and general terms and conditions are generally missing. In addition, their offers are too tempting and too cheap to be true.

6. Recognize phishing emails?

Phishing emails are used to steal personal information and money. Phishing attacks start with an email.

A phishing email can make a tempting offer or demand immediate action, such as filling out a fake form, clicking a link to a fake website, opening an infected attachment, or revealing credit card numbers and passwords. Grammatically deficient texts, unusual salutations or cryptically written sender addresses should make you suspicious.

The digital divide – cut off from the digital world – what now? – Radio SRF 1

1. Buy a ticket online