Canadian families and digitalization: Looking to the future

Digitalization involves the widespread adoption of digital technologies such as the Internet, smartphones, social networks, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence throughout society. Digitalization has transformed how businesses operate as well as how people work, purchase goods and communicate with one another. Want to renew your passport, apply for a job, pay a bill, register for a course or find a bus to take you across town? Chances are good that you’ll be relying on digital technologies to complete every one of these tasks.

Recently, Dr. Nicole Denier and her colleagues produced an issue brief with the Vanier Institute of the Family to consider how digitalization has transformed families. For example, people increasingly use online matching services, allowing them to more efficiently find an intimate partner who matches their criteria. Schools rely on digital platforms to deliver learning and homework to children, while making it convenient for parents to go online to track their child’s progress in school and to report an upcoming absence. Videochats connect grandparents with grandchildren who live thousands of miles away, strengthening bonds across generations despite the distance. Digital household management tools track budgets and manage busy schedules, offering the possibility of families spending more time with one another.

Beyond these purported advantages, Denier and her colleagues also note some important challenges. Not everyone is able to access these digital technologies, including those who live in remote areas of Canada. Older Canadians may struggle to keep up with the pace of digital technologies, at risk of becoming uninformed and isolated. Canadians are also rightly worried about the ways in which the storage of their private information online might be used for other purposes, including cyberattacks and identity theft. Moreover, the firehose of information that comes from the Internet can be confusing and overwhelming, especially in an environment where misinformation and conspiracy theories abound.

Building up Canadians’ digital literacy—the ability to find, share, create and critically evaluate digital content—must be managed through socialization, management, and negotiation, says Dr. Denier. For example, parents may need to take time to monitor their children’s use of social media to prevent exposure to cyberbullying and hateful content. Banks must implement safeguards so that older adults do not fall prey to cyberscams. Businesses must be sensitive to the ways in which flexible work arrangements blur the boundaries between work and home, with disproportionate effects on women. Governments must evolve policies addressing the inequalities of digitalization and enact laws that given consumers greater control over how their data is used.

Dr. Denier recognizes that researchers play an important role too. To ensure digitalization is developed with families in mind, she and her colleagues are calling for research focused on better understanding how digital technologies impact diverse families and more rigorous evaluation of how digital policies affect family needs and use of digitalization.