Smart technologies challenges and issues in social inclusion – case of disabled youth in a developing country
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JABS-10-2020-0389 |
| Published date | 11 January 2021 |
| Date | 11 January 2021 |
| Pages | 308-323 |
| Subject Matter | Strategy,International business |
| Author | Bissane Harb,Dina Sidani |
Smart technologies challenges and issues
in social inclusion –case of disabled
youth in a developing country
Bissane Harb and Dina Sidani
Abstract
Purpose –In light of the emphasis on ‘‘inclusion’’ in the sustainable development goals (SDGs), the
notion of social inclusionencompasses the goal of granting opportunities for disabledpeople, integrate
them and make them participate in the new environment.Referring to the capability theory, the purpose
of this study is to examine the role of information and communication technology (ICT) in the social
inclusionof disabled young people in Lebanon.
Design/methodology/approach –This paper usesa qualitative approach based on a series of focused
semi-structured interviews with 11 participantsoccupying key positions in aid associations fordisabled
people.
Findings –The findingssuggest that smart technologies can enhance socialinclusion through three key
factors: the nature of impairment and other personal characteristics of disabled people, the resources
available to them and the environmentalaspects provided by government policies and society’scultural
practices. In the contemporary society characterized by an increasingrole of ICTs, the findings of this
research could contributeto lead the developing countries to a sustainable and inclusive world through
social inclusionof their youth.
Research limitations/implications –This study has some limitations that should be mentioned. First,
it was conducted only on a small sample size (with 11 interviewees). Further empirical research must
be conducted on larger sample to build and elaborate on the findings. Second, the results are mainly
based on the points of view of people working in aid associations for disabled people. In future
research, semi-structured interviews can be carried out with the disabled people themselves or with
members of their family to ask them about their personal experience with smart technologies and the
impact of this on their social inclusion. It was also suggested that the future research should explore
the challenges of inclusion for different categories of disabled people separately because they are not
all facing the same issues and the same challenges. Furthermore, as this paper focuses on the role of
smart technologies in the development of social inclusion of disabled people, future research could
take place with other groups, for example, Palestinian and Syrian refugees, to identify whether these
groups are experiencing similar challenges and barriers when trying to use smart technologies as a
way to enhance their social inclusion.
Practical implications –Related to a larger and broader approach, social inclusion of disabled or
marginalized peopleor refugees in developing countries couldbe a way to commit to a sustainable and
inclusiveworld, in alignment with the eight goals ofthe Millennium Development Goals.
Originality/value –Related to a larger and broader approach, social inclusion of disabled or
marginalized peopleor refugees in developing countries couldbe a way to commit to a sustainable and
inclusiveworld, in alignment with the eight goals ofthe Millennium Development Goals.
Keywords Social inclusion, Developing country, Capability theory, Disabled young people
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
In light of the emphasis on “inclusion” in the sustainable development goals (SDGs), the
notion of social inclusion encompasses the goal of granting opportunities for disabled
Bissane Harb is based at
the Faculty of Business
Administration and
Management, Saint Joseph
University, Beirut, Lebanon.
Dina Sidani is based at the
Faculty of Business
Administration and
Management, Saint
Joseph’s University,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
USA.
Received 2 October 2020
Revised 19 October 2020
Accepted 9 November 2020
PAGE 308 jJOURNAL OF ASIA BUSINESS STUDIES jVOL. 16 NO. 2 2022, pp. 308-323, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1558-7894 DOI 10.1108/JABS-10-2020-0389
people, integrate them and make them participate in the new environment. On many levels,
social inclusion is a process through which new groups/disabled people find their place in
the social networks, whereas incumbents are providing them space and opportunity to do
so. Despite the strong commitment expressed by the international community for inclusive
and sustainable development, persons with disabilities continue to face significant
challenges to their full participation in society (UN Flagship Report on Disability and
Development, 2018).
In today’s digital age, the range of information and communication technology (ICT) has
increased in our lives for people without disabilities as well as for disabled people. In many
countries across the world, the disabled peopleare facing the challenges of interaction with
smart technology products and services in the environment of high-spread broadband and
web-delivered service. Recognizing critical importance of ICT and social networks gives a
growing hope in the power of ICT in supportingsocial inclusion process.
An increasing interest has been identified in the literature for the access and the use of
smart technologies by disabled people (Stepanova et al.,2018;Soderstrom, 2009;
Sourbati, 2012). This subject is of particular importance because being more digitally
included leads to greater social inclusion (Clayton and Macdonald, 2013). According to
Dobranski and Hargittai (2006), people with disabilities suffer from digital divide and digital
inequality when trying to interact with smart technologies. Furthermore, Eid (2015) argued
that ICT offer new opportunities for persons with disabilities to participate in all aspects of
social life on more equal terms than ever before. Thepast studies have limited their analysis
of disabled people and ICT to descriptive statistics (Lenhart et al.,2005). Further studies
are needed to gain in-depth insight into this phenomenon and to explore its key challenges
for young people with disabilities.
This paper aims to explore the process by which the use of smart technologies by disabled
young people in Lebanon can contribute to their opportunities for social inclusion. In fact,
Lebanon is actually facing an unprecedented economic and financial crisis. In addition to
the negative consequences of the crisis on the education and the career opportunities of
Lebanese youth, the disabled young people are confronted to additional forms of
disadvantage owing to their personal situation and their physical and psychological
problems. Furthermore, no serious efforts were made in the past to meet their specific
needs and to promote their full participation in the society. Moreover, the Lebanese
disabled people suffer particularly from the lack of access to information regarding their
rights, which is contrary to the principles of inclusion (Country Report, 2015). Therefore, the
smart technologies represent a crucial opportunity for this marginalized sub-group to
increase its social inclusion or it would quickly be transformed into a new « digital
underclass » (European Commission,2010) cited in [3: 22].
Thus, we examine ICT usage patterns of disabled young people to understand the ways in
which ICTs can promote their social inclusion. Our objective is to investigate how ICT could
contribute to social inclusion of disabled young people in Lebanon. For this purpose, a
qualitative study will be carried out among experts in this field. The results will be analyzed
to identify the main elements that promote the social inclusion of young people with
disabilities through technology.
From a theoretical perspective, the study is positioned within the domain of enriching bright
ICT research (Lee, 2016;Abu Jarour et al.,2019). This is because uncovering beneficial
uses of ICTs is the first step in promoting the bright sides of existing technologies in the
disabled context. On practical terms, our findings may help governments and other
stakeholders in their effortstoward a more inclusive and sustainable world.
The paper is structured as follows. We summarize the theoretical background in Section 2.
In Section 3, we explain our methodology and introduce our sampling for the study. After
exposing the situation of disabled young people in Lebanon in Section 4, we present and
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