Designing for Digital Inclusion in the Belgian Government
Summary
Namahn has been working on digital inclusion for the Digital Transformation Office of the Belgian federal government for over a year. Since 2020, they have invested in understanding user needs to help administrations improve their services for and with the citizen. In a multidisciplinary team, the team researched the challenges of digital inclusion and explored actionable avenues for federal administrations. In 2019, a study showed that 42% of Belgian citizens didn't use any online or digital public service. Applying design techniques, the team shaped a profound understanding of people at risk, their struggles, and how governmental services can become more inclusive. In this talk, Yalenka and Marie will outline how they conducted interviews with citizens at risk of digital exclusion during a lockdown and what they learned from those. Additionally, they’ll detail the current experiments that they are launching to ensure public services are conceived in an inclusive way.
Key Insights
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41% of Belgian citizens with internet access avoid digital government services, showing digital exclusion is not only about access.
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Digital exclusion depends more on context and support than individual digital skills or resources.
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Smartphones are widely accessible, but Belgian government services remain designed primarily for desktop use.
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Diverse visual identities across government services cause confusion; cross-platform consistency is key to inclusion.
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Trust in government and digital channels fundamentally affects digital inclusion; personal assistance remains crucial.
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Small, simple artifacts like inclusion brochures can ripple across organizations and raise awareness effectively.
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Building networks among those working on inclusion helps overcome loneliness and fragmentation within government.
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Digital inclusion requires ecosystem partnerships beyond government, involving local organizations that provide access and coaching.
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Inclusive civic design is an agile, ongoing process that benefits from empowering ambassadors from varied disciplines.
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Civic designers play a key role in translating inclusion commitments into measurable actions and accountability.
Notable Quotes
"Digital exclusion is not a fixed status and can affect anyone at different points in life."
"Belgian government services are still really designing with desktop use in mind, even though smartphones are more accessible."
"Working towards cross-platform coherence is crucial so people can have similar reference points wherever they are."
"A big challenge is that a lot of governmental sites are filled with legally correct but totally incomprehensible content."
"People need to trust governments before they can trust digital governments."
"Digitizing doesn’t mean removing your frontline; frontline workers must be empowered to assist less digital citizens."
"There’s no magic solution for digital exclusion; small complementary efforts can make significant impact."
"It’s very important to set up a network of people already working on inclusion to share learnings and build mutual understanding."
"Inclusive civic design doesn’t mean only designers should do it; it requires ambassadors across policy, business, tech, and communications."
"As a civic designer, it’s really up to you to hold managers accountable for their promises on inclusion."
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