About the Book
This is the first book to show how digitalisation and the better provision of information and communication technologies (ICTs) can improve access to a wide-range of social services, as well as make them more inclusive. Overcoming disparities across social groups using contemporary digitalisation models will have lasting consequences on social well-being and human welfare.
Reflecting on current trends the authors vividly illustrate the collective, global nature of the challenge that digitalisation represents for providers, administrators and users of welfare services. It is important, therefore, to bear in mind the following for research design and practice:
Citizens' rights must be protected
Consideration should be given to how the services provided can be improved by more effective use of ICTs
Digital interventions require better service coordination in the setting of priorities and specific training in digital skills for service providers and service users
The chapters in this book address these problems and challenges in great depth, analysing the role of ICTs in promoting social inclusion and social welfare, drawing on examples of successful ICT applications around the world. The book contains country case-studies from the United States, Brazil, India, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong (China), Zimbabwe, Morocco, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Singapore and will be of interest to all scholars and students of social policy, to social work educators, and social care providers.
Table of Contents:
1. Promoting Digital Inclusion: Intergenerational Aspects, 2. Social Welfare and Inclusion in Digital Societies: Surveillance, Data Capitalism and COVID-19, 3. ICTs, Public Participation and Social Inclusion in the European Union: Trends and Challenges in a Digital Society, 4. Manifesting an Inclusive Society: Using Universal Design Theory with ICT to Supercharge the Empowerment and Participation of Marginalised Populations, 5. Digital Social Work: Strategies to Incorporate Digital Media into Practice and Research, 6. Social Inclusion, Social Network and Community Social Work, 7. Access and Strategies for the Future of Online Social Work Services and Education: Disrupting Traditional Social Work, 8. ICT and Digital Social Work: The Case of Spain, 9. Digital Equity and Inclusion in Technology-Based Mental Health Services, 10. ICT and Social Welfare in Korea, 11. Cases of ICT Applications in Taiwan for Smart Living and Youth Mental Well-Being Under COVID-19, 12. The Leap Forward in ICT Development in the Social Welfare Sector of Hong Kong: Opportunities and impacts, 13. Digital Practice for Social Work in Zimbabwe: Success, Challenges and Opportunities, 14. ICT and Social Media - How to Avoid Social Exclusion?, 15. ICT in Improving Access to Welfare and Enhancing Transparency in Governance: The Case of Pune District Council, India, 16. Information and Communication Technologies in the Unified Social Assistance System (SUAS): Right to Social Inclusion
About the Author :
Antonio López Peláez is Professor of Social Work and Social Services at the National University of Distance Education (UNED, Spain,) and the International Council on Social Welfare Executive Director (since November 2020). He has held key leadership positions at UNED as Head of the Office of the Rector, director of the UNED's Segovia campus, director of the Master's Degree in Social Work, Welfare State, and Social Intervention Methods at the Law Faculty of the UNED and is spokesman for faculty members before the Academic Senate of the UNED. In the last 20 years, he has published extensively in scientific journals. He is co-editor of the Routledge International Handbook of Digital Social Work.
Sang-Mok Suh is the Global President of the International Council on Social Welfare (ICSW), as well as president of the Korea National Council on Social Welfare, the representative body of the private social welfare sector in the Republic of Korea. During his career he served as member of the Korean National Assembly, Minister of Health and Welfare of his country as well as a high-level advisory board member to the United Nations Secretary General on Sustainable Development. Dr. Suh has written widely in the socio-economic field and is the author of many articles and several books on the Korean economy.
Sergei Zelenev is the Special Representative of the International Council on Social Welfare (ICSW) to the United Nations (UN) in New York. Until May 2019 he served as Executive Director of the ICSW. Before assuming his position at the ICSW in 2012, Dr. Zelenev worked for almost three decades for the UN, both at headquarters in New York in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN/DESA), and in the field, in Africa (twice) and in the Caribbean. He has written widely in the areas of socio-economic policy, ageing, youth and intergenerational relationships and directed numerous UN studies on key policy issues.
Review :
This is a highly relevant and timely book. Tremendous advances in digital technologies are seen everywhere and can help empower disadvantaged groups and foster their social inclusion. The volume provides stimulating and uplifting reading, and at the same time highlights down-to-earth lessons in the use of digital tools for the purpose of improving people’s lives and the enhancement of social well-being.
Ms. Daniela Bas, Director, Division for Inclusive Social Development,
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
This compelling book explores a critical issue in post-pandemic societies: the digitalisation model being implemented in the field of social welfare. The authors examine good practices in a variety of contexts, opening the debate on the use of digital technologies in a diversity of welfare systems. Sponsored by the International Council on Social Welfare, an NGO dedicated to promoting social welfare since 1928, the volume invites readers to reflect deeply on the rapid pace of social changes. A highly recommended reading to address the multiple challenges of the 21st century.
José Félix Tezanos, Professor of Sociology and President of the Center for Sociological Research (CIS), Ministry of the Presidency, Government of Spain
Digital Transformation and Social Well-Being is a vigorous interdisciplinary inquiry into the issues and challenges at the nexus of social welfare programs and information and communication technologies. Offering thoughtful analyses and practical case studies, this volume provides creative insights into how these technologies can be employed to foster social inclusion and advance social well being. This timely volume makes an important contribution to our understanding of the social implications of the digital age.
Neil Gilbert, Milton and Gertrude Chernin Chair in Social Welfare, Distinguished Professor of Social Welfare, University of California, Berkeley
