What does a ‘good’ digital welfare state look like?
The right to access social security through the welfare state is enshrined in international human rights law. But the digitisation of welfare systems is threatening this right both through unaccountable algorithmic decision making and digitally excluded communities’ lack of access to services.
Despite extensive scrutiny of these negative shifts there has been little examination of what a ‘good’ digitised welfare system might look like, even in Nordic countries where citizen-state relations are premised on a generous welfare state.
This project brought together UK and Scandinavian experts on the digital welfare state, as well as community groups in the UK to capture the values underlying existing provision, and propose new frameworks for ‘good’ digital welfare.
The resulting policy briefing concludes that digital welfare platforms in the UK and Scandinavia offer improved internal operations but can seem exclusionary and opaque to those accessing them to claim their right to social assistance. It sets out how system changes should be underpinned by a commitment to ensuring that the broader digital welfare ecosystem works to deliver entitlements to those in need with dignity and respect.
Outputs
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What does a good digital welfare state look like?
Team
Dr Becky Faith, Research Fellow, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex and ESRC Digital Futures at Work Research Centre.
Dr Miranda Kajtazi, Associate Professor, Department of Informatics, Lund University School of Economics and Management, Lund University, Sweden
Professor Øystein Sæbø, Professor of Information Systems, University of Agder, Norway
Professor Sara Hoffman, Chair of Information Systems and Information Management, Department of Information Systems, University of Agder, Norway
Dr Cathy Urquhart, Visiting Professor, Department of Informatics, Lund University and Professor Emeritus, Metropolitan University Business School
Kevin Hernandez, Research Officer, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex and ESRC Digital Futures at Work Research Centre
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