prof.dr.ing. A.J.A.M. van Deursen | People Pages: Find employees & contact details

As professor of digital inequality and director of the centre for digital inclusion, Alexander van Deursen is interested in the role of technology in the processes of human communication and in ensuring that technology development is at the service of people. He is especially known for evaluating the contribution of technological developments within debates on inclusive societies. In a scientific manner, Alexander maps barriers of technology engagement – for example using his widely acknowledged framework of digital skills – and explains differences in the positive and negative outcomes that people receive from engagement with (emerging) Internet technology. He is interested in how different people appropriate technology into daily life, and under what conditions technology actually can be used to improve wellbeing.

Alexander has published widely in sciencific journals that critically discuss key issues arising from the scale and speed of technology development. His publications on digital skills and digital inequality have won awards as best dissertation worldwide on technology and communication from the International Communication Association, best dissertation in communication science in the Benelux from the Netherlands School of Communication Research, best paper award from the International Communication Association, and the UT in the Media award from the University of Twente.

Alexander has advised the Dutch government, European Commission, International Telecommunications Union, UNESCO, UNICEF and other national and international organizations on the social implications of the Internet, specifically on how to account for the contribution of technology to increasing social inequalities. He has been visiting professor at the Londen School of Economics and Political Science (LsE) and Arizona State University (ASU). He is on the scientific Board of Netwerk Mediawijzer and initiated the rapidly expanding DISTO project (from digital skills to tangible outcomes project) with professor Ellen Helsper (LsE). In addition to his academic work, he has been featured in numerous popular media outlets including all major national newspapers, international newspapers such as the New York Times, and many other outlets.

Currently, Alexander is leading several (inter)national research projects. He wrote a book with professor Jan van DIjk called 'Digital skills, unlocking the information society'. Alexander chairs the department of Technology, Human and Institutional Behaviour. His work and projects are avaiable here: www.centrefordigitalinclusion.nl.

Expertise

Computer Science
- Internet
- Internet of Things
- Performance Test
- Survey
- Education
Social Sciences
- Skills
Psychology
- Research
- Communication

Organisations

Research line 1: Digital inequality

In the first line of research, Alexander focuses on the use and effects of (emerging) Internet technology in relation to a person’s position in society. He showed that some sections of the population more frequently use applications that have the greatest advantages for accruing capital and resources (such as work, study and societal participation), while other sections relatively often choose to use entertainment applications that have little advantage. Besides increasing relative differences, there is the disturbing trend of absolute exclusion; when offline alternatives become unavailable. By building on traditional classifications of potential areas of exclusion in his theorization, Alexander tries to understand who benefits in what way from technology. To further enrich quantitative work, he focuses on specific types of technology usage that affect offline outcomes across several areas of society.

During his stay at London School of Economics and Political Science (LsE), Alexander worked on the 'From digital skills to tangible outcomes’ (DISTO) project. With scholars from LsE and Oxford University he created a theory driven index for digital exclusion. The index follows the process of technology appropriation by accounting for motivation and attitudes, physical and material access, skills, uses and outcomes. Besides the ongoing DISTO project, Alexander is working on a granted projects that studies the interrelationship between social and digital inequality by following technology use in the household context for the course of a year. Furthermore, he received a grant from NWO to study inequality in the Internet of Things. The focus is on performance tests of IoT skills and IoT use in the social context of the home.

Research Line 2: Digital skills to participate in the information and network society.

Digital skills play an important role in the translation of a type of use (e.g., search for a job) in the corresponding outcome (employment). Performance tests based on Alexander's framework of six types of skills (operational, formal, information, communication, content creation and strategic) revealed that assumptions about the level of digital skills among citizens are unjustified. Alexander has for example shown that older users outperform young users in content-related digital skills, and that we should not underestimate the importance of traditional skills for performing on digital skills. With phd's and graduate students Alexander is conducting performance tests of Internet and IoT skills that are required for new – supposedly more intuitive – devices. From a practical perspective, much of the interest in this research line comes from the public domain, for example in relation to the objectives regarding the digital government. Digital skills are considered an important requisite to achieve this objective.

Research Line 3: Digital skills for 21st century labor

The third line of research is an extension of the previous one and concerns the skills needed in the context of employment. In political and economic discussions about what knowledge and skills are important in our current and future society, these skills are referred to as ‘21st century skills.’ Examples are information management, communication, collaboration, problem solving, or critical thinking, skills that are also needed in the digital environment. In this line of research, Alexander responds to challenges such as the increasing demand for high skilled jobs, or the mismatch between what students learn at school and what the labor market requires. In 2012 and 2013, Alexander conducted vignette studies and interviews that revealed that much time is lost in the workplace because of digital skill shortages, that organizations take few initiatives to support the worker, and that the effects of training are underestimated. He is now leading a research project which aims to identify digital skills for workers in the creative sector and to determine the level of these skills and the interplaying factors influencing this level. The results help to establish policy that will be applied in the last phase of the project.

Publications

2024

Internet appropriation barriers in the lives of Dutch parents living in poverty: A qualitative study. Boerkamp, L. G. P., van der Zeeuw, A., van Deursen, A. J. A. M., van Laar, E. & van der Graaf, S.Exploring barriers to and outcomes of internet appropriation among households living in poverty: A systematic literature review. Boerkamp, L. G. P., van Deursen, A. J. A. M., van Laar, E., van der Zeeuw, A. & van der Graaf, S.https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440241233047

2023

Het belang van spel en creativiteit bij digitale ongelijkheid en het Internet of Things, 422-426. van der Zeeuw, A., van Deursen, A. J. A. M. & Jansen, G.https://doi.org/10.5117/tCW2023.4.005.ZEEUTheoretical Integration of ySKILLS: Towards a New Model of Digital Literacy. Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. Smahel, D., Mascheroni, G., Livingstone, S., Helsper, E. J., van Deursen, A., Tercova, N., Stoilova, M., Georgiou, M., Machackova, H. & Alho, K.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10090716Trendrapport Digitale Inclusie: Kerncijfers en beleidsaanbevelingen. University of Twente. van Deursen, A.The IoT, easy as anything?: Uncovering the importance of digital skills for the Internet of Things. University of Twente. de Boer, P. S.https://doi.org/10.3990/1.9789036555951IQ and digital inequality: An empirical investigation, 1248-1270. van Deursen, A. J. A. M. & van Dijk, J. A. G. M.https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448211024012The irony of the smart home: How the IoT shifts power balances and reinforces household values, 171-182. Zeeuw, A. v. d., van Deursen, A. J. A. M. & Jansen, G.https://doi.org/10.1080/01972243.2023.2189896De digitale inclusie paradox. University of Twente. van Deursen, A. J. A. M.Health on the move—can we keep up? Activity tracker performance test to measure data and strategic skills, 3377-3387. Boer, P. S. d., Deursen, A. J. A. M. v. & Rompay, T. J. L. v.https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2022.2097367The youth Digital Skills Performance Test Results: Report on the results of real-life information navigation and processing, communication and interaction, and content creation and production skills tasks. Zenodo. van Deursen, A. J. A. M., van Laar, E., Helsper, E. & Schneider, L.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8297778

2022

The orchestrated digital inequalities of the IoT: How vendor lock-in hinders and playfulness creates IoT benefits in every life (E-pub ahead of print/First online). Zeeuw, A. v. d., va Deursen, A. J. A. M. & Jansen, G.https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448221138075The lights are on, but no one’s home: A performance test to measure digital skills to use IoT home automation, 1-32 (E-pub ahead of print/First online). de Boer, P. S., van Deursen, A. J. A. M. & van Rompay, T. J. L.https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448221133737General Health Statuses as Indicators of Digital Inequality and the Moderating Effects of Age and Education: Cross-sectional Study, Article e37845. Van Deursen, A. J. A. M.https://doi.org/10.2196/37845Development and validation of the Internet of Things Skills Scale (IoTSS), 1883-1899. van Deursen, A. J. A. M., van der Zeeuw, A., de Boer, P., Jansen, G. & van Rompay, T.https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2021.1900320The youth Digital Skills Performance Tests. Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. van Laar, E., van Deursen, A. J. A. M., Helsper, E. J. & Schneider, L.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7110265Digital inequalities among MSE entrepreneurs in Indonesia: Exploring differences in internet access between internet-users and non internet-users MSE entrepreneurs. University of Twente. Yuldinawati, L.https://doi.org/10.3990/1.9789036553964Developing policy aimed at 21st-century digital skills for the creative industries: an interview study with founders and managing directors, 195-209. van Laar, E., van Deursen, A. J. A. M. & van Dijk, J. A. G. M.https://doi.org/10.1080/13639080.2022.2036710Psychological, cultural and socio-structural factors associated with digital immersion in Chilean adolescents, 21-40. León, M., Rehbein, L., Labbé, C., Van Deursen, A. J. A. M. & Cerda, C.https://doi.org/10.1080/17482798.2021.1904428

2021

IoT as simple as Do Re Mi: A micro-figurational approach to the social context of Internet of Things skills and digital inequalities. University of Twente. van der Zeeuw, A.https://doi.org/10.3990/1.9789036552844A Systematic Literature Review of Organizational Factors Influencing 21st-Century Skills. Koehorst, M. M., van Deursen, A. J. A. M., van Dijk, J. A. G. M. & de Haan, J.https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440211067251Mediawijsheid: Conceptualisering en belang in een gemedieerde samenleving. Lacunes in bestaand onderzoek en beleid. University of Twente. van Deursen, A. J. A. M. & Helsper, E. J.https://www.utwente.nl/en/centrefordigitalinclusion/Files/mediawijsheid-conceptualisering-en-belang-vandeursen-helsper.pdfyouth Digital Skills Indicator: Dutch questionnaire. ySkills. van Deursen, A. J. A. M., Helsper, E., Schneider, L. & van Laar, E.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5076557youth Digital Skills Indicator. ySkills. Helsper, E. J., Schneider, L., van Deursen, A. J. A. M. & van Laar, E.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4620874youth Digital Skills Indicator: Estonian questionnaire. ySkills. Tikerperi, M.-L., Beilmann, M., Kalmus, V., Opermann, S., van Deursen, A. J. A. M., Helsper, E., Schneider, L. & van Laar, E.https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5076536

Research profiles

Because of his prominent role in large research projects, Alexander is limited active in bachelor courses. Four years ago he initiated the development of the master course ‘Social implications of the Internet’ with a focus on societal aspects in which the Internet (of Things and other emerging technologies) plays an important role, ranging from economic growth and 21^st-century labor, democracy and policy making, health, cybercrime, cultural consumption, and social mobilization. Instead of common utopian and dystopian views supported by shallow arguments, Alexander encourages students to identify the most promising results with evidence. Besides overviewing key insights, students develop a thorough understanding of the main perspectives about the social implications of the Internet.

Alexander furthermore participates in post academic Master courses, for example by providing modules on digital inequality and digital skills in organizational contexts. He regularly is asked to provide workshops on digital skills and inequality.

Affiliated study programs

Courses academic year 2023/2024

Courses in the current academic year are added at the moment they are finalised in the Osiris system. Therefore it is possible that the list is not yet complete for the whole academic year.

Courses academic year 2022/2023

Current projects

21st Century Digital Skills (NWO/NRO grant)

The main goal of the Human Capital Agenda is to make the Dutch creative sector an international leader by strengthening human capital among the Dutch workforce. In this regard, human capital can be considered an umbrella term covering digital literacy, creativity, critical thinking, problem solving, communicating and collaborating. Together, they create a strong base for innovative and competitive power. The goal of this project is to contribute by focusing specifically on 21st century digital skills of which the importance is fundamental to the wider human capital challenge.

Youth Skills (acronym: ySKILLS)

Digitisation is changing society. ICTs strongly impact children's and adolescents' wellbeing. In order to benefit from these, new skill sets are required. Youth Skills (acronym: ySKILLS) aims to enhance and maximise long-term positive impact of the digital environment.

Digital inequality from a domestication perspective (Tech4People grant)

Research in the field of digital inequality has proliferated over the last decade and demonstrates the complexity of factors that influence how people use the Internet. Many of these factors have filtered through in recent policies (that for example aim at improving Internet skills) with as primary goal narrowing social exclusion in relation to everyday challenges. Research is mostly quantitative and attempts to describe the large picture of the problem. The mechanisms that explain how online inequalities (e.g., motivational, physical, skills or usage) effect one’s offline position (and the other way around) are yet to be explained in qualitative research. A better understanding and theoretical development is necessary for creating policies aimed at those who are socially excluded. Policies can be better targeted when the effects of providing technology and training on social exclusion are better understood. The overall research question is: How do digital and social inclusion indicators interact and mediate the effects of technology on daily life in low ses-family settings.

Any Thing for Anyone? (NWO VIDI grant)

The role of technology is rarely mentioned in political discussions about social inequality. Nevertheless, recent studies have revealed that technologies offer more capital-enhancing opportunities for those of higher socioeconomic status. Furthermore, when technologies become more complex, comparative advantages increase, enabling smaller groups of people to benefit. Following this reasoning, it is crucial to study the most recent phase of technological development: the complex Internet-of-Things (IoT). Many of the possibilities enabled by IoT that are emphasized in popular media seem techno-utopian promises that stress the autonomous power of the technology. So far, behavioral factors that are necessary for understanding the impact of the IoT have been ignored. We aim at understanduing more about the key driver for using the IoT: user skills and combine performance tests with socio-contxtual investigations of IoT use.

From Digital Skills to Tangible Outcomes (DIS2O)

In the UK and Europe where this project originated policies have been developed to improve individuals' Internet access and skills to ensure they can fully participate in all aspects of the information society. Other regions show similar initiatives aimed at tackling inequalities in people’s abilities to use Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in ways that help achieve tangible, high-quality outcomes in everyday life. At the same time, a great deal of academic work has been conducted which has led to detailed knowledge about who is and who is not digitally included.As the Internet becomes an increasingly embedded part of everyday life for many people, research on digital inclusion has been criticized. There are concerns about the lack of strong theoretical developments within the field and the limitations of the survey measures typically used in research and evaluations of initiatives. In this project, we aim to address these criticisms through developing theoretically informed survey measures of people's digital skills, engagement with the Internet, and the tangible outcomes this Internet use has in their lives. In parallel to the development of #DiSTOsurvey measures, collaborations with government, third sector and academic institutions have been put into place using the DiSTO framework as a guide to visualise the links between digital and social exclusion in the #DiSTOmap projects.

Live appearances have included NOS Radio and TV, Wereldomroep, 3FM, Radio538, and Man Bijt Hond. I have been interviewed by most of the national newspapers (e.g., Volkskrant, NRC, Trouw, Telegraaf) and several international ones (e.g., The New York Times, Phys.org). Many more specialized journals (e.g., De Informatiespecialist, Telecomputer, Ingovernment) have taken note of my research.