Digital Literacy in Digital Society 5.0: Some Challenges

Abstract

In today’s world, digitalization, the virtual and being permanently online become normality, corresponding to individuals’ current and future expectations, with an increasing impact, without forgetting those excluded from this reality (digital divide). Society 5.0 seeks to foster this reality. As a concept initially political-ideological, Society 5.0 currently allows for the development of various analyses on this process of shaping a society where the digital is increasingly present at the service of sustainable social and economic development – a super-smart society. This paper aims to develop an analysis of the challenges that old and new potential social inequalities pose to social inclusion in this super-smart society. The methodology used in this study is qualitative. The authors carried out a search for publications in the field under study in several international databases and used the technique of content analysis. The results allow concluding that, while it is certain that the concept of Society 5.0 initially had a Japanese national dimension, it tends, with modifications considering the distinct features of several countries, to be applied by those regions of the globe that seek future sustainable development (economic, social and environmental).
 
 Received: 23 November 2020 / Accepted: 2 February 2021 / Published: 5 March 2021

Digital Society and Digital Sociology: One Thing Leads to the Other

“…Digital sociology is an opportunity for sociological analysis given that the artifacts, practices and representations shaped by the digital have a socially and culturally constructed component (2), which enables sociology to study it, contributing to explaining this social by the social (35). Sociology can contribute to a sociologically informed society, in which sociological scientific knowledge, although this is not its main goal (31,32), can also be applied to foster a more integrated, inclusive and sustainable development (9,11,19,20).…”

“…There are several challenges facing digital sociology, among which the following are to be highlighted:  Its integration in the interdisciplinarity needed for the study of the digital (15,20,21);  Mobilize in an articulated logic the macro, meso and micro social levels (22)(23)(24)(25);  Study the dark side or negative effects of the digital, such as privacy and security (2,3,26,27); …”

Digitainability—Digital Competences Post-COVID-19 for a Sustainable Society

“…The current society, or rather, the current societies are increasingly articulated through the digital dimension in the production of material goods and services, with Industry 4.0 based on an articulated mobilization between the physical and virtual dimensions that takes shape in a smart factory [5,168], but also in social reproduction and the interactions between individuals in the Digital Society [169][170][171]. An example is Society 5.0 through the mobilization of the articulated potential between cyber-physical-social that can be materialized in a super-smart society [5,172,173].…”

“…Thus, this type of discrimination that leads to a digital divide is, in addition to the already traditional forms of discrimination, causing its aggravation and the widening of the gap between individuals with different features. [173] (p. 7).…”

“…Educational processes are crucial in fostering digital sustainability in a digital society [74,173,188], with active learning [85,103,189].…”