Technical and Nontechnical Measures for Inclusive Online Public Services. Implications for an Inclusive EU Digital Policy [Special Issue: Digital Identity on Public Services]

Abstract

Developing and deploying inclusive digital public services is one of the EU's key digital targets.  Digital Inclusion in the context of public services implies that all people moving and living within Europe, irrespective of their economic, social and cultural capital, can benefit from the use of digital public services. Indeed, inclusive digital public services can also be a lever for social inclusion, if digital services are delivered with a high quality, as highlighted in the research literature. This article therefore analyses, on the basis of a pan-European survey, how the design and delivery of public services could be made more inclusive. In particular, it assesses how vulnerable groups behave in relation to digital public services and what technical and non-technical measures could contribute to digital inclusion. Using the example of an eID management solution that was developed as part of an Horizon 2020 research project, the authors critically discuss the extent to which an SSI-based eID solution can make digital public services more inclusive.