Chapter Three: Youth Digital Exclusion, Big Data Divide and the Future of Work

The implications of digital human relations have moved from speculations and idle scholarly discussions at the margins into mainstream policy agenda across the globe. There are tomes of literature about youth exclusion and its implications so that it has almost become a cliché in discursive engagements on youth issues. Similarly, there is virtually no known platform for discussing digital exclusion without some form of mention of “youth exclusion.” However, fascinating mainstreaming of these challenges is, there is very little focus on practicable ways out that are contextual. Rather, we have had one-size-fits all sweeping suggestions for possible alternatives. The unintended consequences of the big data divide (structural inequalities) and digital exclusion on youth and their future work experiences have received perfunctory attention from policy actors and scholars. In a few cases, individual countries (mainly developing states) are the subject of interest. The assumption that this exclusion is limited to developing countries is misleading as countries in the Global North, including the OECD states (Canada, United States, United Kingdom, France, Sweden, Spain, Netherlands, and so on), are not exempted from the harsh realities of youth digital exclusion and the big data divide.