Understanding inclusion in crowdsourcing digital platforms: The case of UNAL Innova in Colombia

The use of digital platforms has risen in all spheres of social life. The role they play in including different communities and those that can be traditionally excluded is less understood, especially in developing countries.

The current research examines the question: to what extent can excluded groups be included in digital platforms? It examines the UNAL Innova crowdsourcing platform in Colombia and some of its subsequent derivations. The study adopts Strong Structuration Theory (SST) as a theoretical framework and sensitising device. Various sources of qualitative data were collected in Colombia between the second half of 2021 and February 2022. The data included interviews, document analysis, and netnography. The data were triangulated and analysed thematically using qualitative data analysis software.

The research findings reveal that the internal structures of the platform were challenged by the creation of derivations of the original platform to expand its purpose of use and include different groups. However, external structures and the reorganisation of different agents curbed its purpose and led to the platform being used mainly by academics as a nichesourcing platform. Consequently, the reproduction of other internal structures did not serve wider communities, limiting the opportunity for the digital platform to be used by excluded social groups.
The study contributes to the digital platforms and ICT4D literature by revealing the difficulties that digital platforms face in promoting digital inclusion. It shows how different implicit or explicit exclusionary practices in digital platforms can hinder the opportunity for excluded groups to have an active role in digital scenarios. The study also contributes to the literature on the digital inequalities and digital divide by theorising inclusion as an outcome of the interaction between different human and technological agents under specific internal and external structures. In addition, the study contributes to the Strong Structuration Theory (SST) framework by emphasising the role of material properties and features of technology and how they can influence or hinder inclusion.

Regarding practice, the study demonstrates to practitioners and policymakers that top-down visions of inclusion can underestimate the barriers faced by excluded groups in benefiting from digital platforms. Hence, it calls for alternative governance to promote the involvement of wider groups in platform decision-making and, instead of competitive approaches, to embrace structures that promote collaboration and collective production.

Research limitations and avenues of future research are also discussed.