IN5370 ¨C ICT and Global Inequalities

Course content

This intensive, four-week course is centred on the relation between information and communication technologies (ICTs)?and global inequalities of economic, social, and other redistributional types. Originally centred on issues of digital inequality, referred to as the "digital divide",?research?now has to face issues of harm induced by inclusion in digital systems, such as surveillance, biometric border controls, and multiple forms of data violence induced on vulnerable subjects. The course offers the conceptual and practical tools to understand?ICT-induced inequalities ttoday,?grappling with the adverse effects of digital inclusion and equipping students with the critical tools to develop technologies that overcome such problems.

Learning outcome

After completing this course, you:

• Can describe and critically compare central theories of ICT and global inequalities, applying them to phenomena of current interest in this research space,
• Can illustrate different perspectives on the relation between ICT and inequalities, illuminating the different phases that such a relation has acquired over time,
• Can place debates on ICTs within the current context of data colonialism and adverse digital incorporation, using different conceptual tools to tackle such problems in theoretical, methodological and practical ways,
• Can reflect on the role of different actors in ICT and global inequalities, discussing how private companies, governments, people and the civil society interact in shaping the outcomes of ICT projects,
• Can apply a critical perspective to the study of inequalities, understanding the centrality of digital technologies to issues of data harm and injustice, and can use concepts and theories from the course to devise routes to overcome such problems.

Admission to the course

Students admitted at UiO must?apply for courses?in Studentweb. Students enrolled in other Master's Degree Programmes can, on application, be admitted to the course if this is cleared by their own study programme.

If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about?admission requirements and procedures for international applicants.

IN5370 and IN9370?will be assessed together in regards to?the number of admissions, with?priority given to PhD candidates with IN9370 in an approved study plan.

Recommended previous knowledge

No previous knowledge on ICT and global inequalities is required. The course suits well for students with a critical interest in the use of digital technologies in matters of development, inside and outside the so-called "Global South", and with a view of understanding both the strengths and the limitations of the "ICT for Progress" proposition.

Overlapping courses

• 10 credits overlap with IN9370 ¨C ICT for Development: Inequality, Harm and Inclusion.

Teaching

Intensive course of four weeks, three lectures (2 hours each) per week.?The first lecture is mandatory.

Examination

This course is assessed with a home exam, which counts 100% towards the final grade.

It will also be counted as one of?your three?attempts to sit the exam for this course, if you sit the exam for one of the following courses: IN9370 ¨C ICT for Development: Inequality, Harm and Inclusion

Language of examination

The examination text is given in English, and you submit your response in English.

Grading scale

Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F?is a fail. Read more about?the grading system.

More about examinations at UiO

• Use of sources and citations
• Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
• Withdrawal from an exam
• Illness at exams / postponed exams
• Explanation of grades and appeals
• Resitting an exam
• Cheating/attempted cheating

You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.