The purpose of the second ServCollab research article was to explore how the digital divide affects customers experiencing vulnerability. Service interactions in essential service settings (health care, education, and social services) were empirically investigated and practices service system members might adopt to address vulnerability were identified. This research upframes the pillars of service inclusion framework to define human capabilities that result from service inclusion practices.
This article, like all ServCollab articles, is intended to encourage more research on important serving humanity topics.
Fisk, Raymond P., Andrew S. Gallan, Alison M. Joubert, Jenine Beekhuyzen, Lilliemay Cheung and Rebekah Russell-Bennett (2023), "Healing the Digital Divide with Digital Inclusion: Enabling Human Capabilities," Journal of Service Research, 26 (4), 542-559.
Healing the digital divides is timely and much needed foundational work... in fact, it represents a mountain of work on an important topic. People grow up and develop in a physical environment and social environment. Our human brains are not "fully wired" until we are in our mid-twenties - what other species depends so much on culture being handed from one generation to the next? Today, there can be no doubt, that both the physical and social environments include a digital environment of screens and devices. Books, radio, and televisions came before, but now smartphones, computers, etc. are gaining AI capabilities. And the metaverse (augmented reality and virtual reality) are coming. Digital twins and humanoid robots as well, a…