“It’s enriched my life”. Agency in the digital world: stories of empowerment and well-being 

We will be presenting our recent paper in Calgary for ASIS&T 2024: https://asistdl.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pra2.1014

[Edited to include DOI for the articke 21/10/2024]

Digital inclusion interventions are designed to address challenges related to digital technology access and use. The complex relationships between digital technologies and people’s general well-being are important when considering the development of digital services, practices, policies, and interventions. This research explores the impact of digital inclusion on individual agency and provides evidence of how agency emerges from the use of digital technologies to contribute to well-being. We present a framework of Digital Inclusion for Well-being drawing on evidence from interviews with participants of three digital inclusion interventions in Aotearoa New Zealand. While recognizing that digital inclusion is a continuum and that some of our research participants were more digitally engaged that others, we propose a preliminary framework of digital inclusion connecting our participants’ digital engagement with outcomes impacting their agency, and thus their well-being. 

Goulding, A., Campbell‐Meier, J., Sylvester, A., & Solhjoo, N. (2024). “It’s Enriched My Life.” Agency in the Digital World: Stories of Empowerment and Well‐Being. Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology61(1), 127-137.