The DIGNITY project key objective was to delve into the digital transport eco-system to grasp the full range of factors that might lead to disparities in the uptake of digitalized mobility products and services by different user groups in Europe. Presenting the challenges brought about by digitalization, the aim was to design, test and validate the DIGNITY approach, an original concept and methodology that seeks to become the ‘ABCs for a digital inclusive travel system’. The intent was to provide a unique framework for analysis and action to: 1) support public and private mobility providers in conceiving mainstream digital products or services that are accessible to and usable by as many people as possible, regardless of their income, social situation or age; and 2) help policy makers formulate long-term strategies that promote innovation in transport while responding to global social, demographic and economic changes, including the challenges of poverty and migration.
The building of the DIGNITY approach followed a step-by-step approach. During this process, a series of strategic objectives were set:
a) To understand the factors leading to the existing digital gap between mobility service provision and uptake by different user groups by looking at both users’ and providers’ requirements within the current digital travel eco-system;
b) To quantify the digital gap in a selected number of Member States by gathering new data on how many people - and which people - are excluded from using technology products, in order to identify gaps in provision, and to highlight and prioritise issues that require resolution;
c) To conceive an original concept to frame the digital gap in metropolitan and regional contexts, considering all the elements that are part of the digital transport ecosystem, namely: the institutional framework (macro level), the provision of digital mobility (meso level) and the needs of the end-user (micro level). This concept will then be tested in a selected number of DIGNITY pilots across Europe (Barcelona -ES, Ancona, IT, Tilburg -NL, Flanders -BE) ;
d) To adapt the Inclusive Design Wheel from the University of Cambridge, a proven methodology for the co-design of products and services to the context of digital mobility. This method will then be tested on a selected number of digital products to conceive new prototypes in the DIGNITY pilots;
e) To adapt foresight methodologies to the context of digital mobility andanalyse how a structured involvement of all actors of the digital travel ecosystem in a scenario-building process can help formulating robust and inclusive policies for current and future generations. This will be tested in the DIGNITY pilots;
f) To evaluate the potential of the combination of points c, d, and e in the formulation of long-term strategies and the impacts generated in the selected pilots; and to validate the DIGNITY approach as an original DSS for further exploitation and replication;
g) To draw conclusions from the DIGNITY process and distill recommendations for the formulation of digitally inclusive transport policies and for a more inclusive design of digital mobility services (the DIGNITY toolkit);
h) To disseminate and exploit DIGNITY research and the knowledge acquired to a broad European audience, in order to raise awareness of the social implications of digitalisation and to encourage the adoption of the DIGNITY approach.
