Systematic Mapping of Digital Gap and Gender, Age, Ethnicity, or Disability

Inés Alvarez-Icaza Longoria, Rogelio Bustamante-Bello, María Soledad Ramírez-Montoya and Arturo Molina
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Inés Alvarez-Icaza Longoria: School of Architecture, Art and Design, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico City 14380, Mexico
Rogelio Bustamante-Bello: School of Engineering and Science, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico City 14380, Mexico
María Soledad Ramírez-Montoya: School of Humanities and Education, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Monterrey 64849, Mexico
Arturo Molina: School of Engineering and Science, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico City 14380, Mexico

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 3, 1-20

Abstract: Rapid technological evolution defines the first two decades of the millennium. This phenomenon has increased the digital gap, disparities, and inequalities in global and local contexts. This paper reports a systematic literature mapping of 180 articles published from 2000 to 2021 discussing the digital gap. The documents were retrieved using boolean operations in two databases, adding terms related to gender, age, ethnicity, and disabilities, focusing on population groups that are especially vulnerable to the effects of this phenomenon. The method included categorizing the retrieved documents to provide a general view of the most concerning topics in the academic and research community. This analysis concludes (a) the approaches to address this topic are diverse, as this is a multilayered, complex, and interconnected issue; (b) many studies refer to developed countries; however, fewer are those who observe or analyze the underdeveloped regions; (c) the majority of published papers in the last decade report information and communication technologies (ICT) and their role in bridging the gap, showing an opportunity area for designing these technologies considering more accessible approaches through flexible technology approaches; (d) this study’s results are a valuable source of information to identify the design requirements for accessible products and service systems. The last section provides a detailed explanation of the findings.

Keywords: digital gap; flexible technology; accessible design; educational innovation; higher education; complex thinking (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:3:p:1297-:d:732035

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