Exploring the Agency Enactment of Digital Inclusion(2/2)

As digitalization progresses, many governments have regarded digital technologies as crucial tools to reintegrate marginalized groups into society, a process known as Digital Inclusion. Digital Inclusion refers to governmental efforts to reduce regional digital inequality by providing access to and utilizing information and communication technologies (ICTs) in rural or low-income areas. However, despite recognizing the importance of digital technologies among agricultural workers, the aging agricultural workforce poses significant challenges to digitalization efforts. In other words, these older workers may experience a digital divide that prevents them from fully benefiting from the advantages of digital technologies.

This study adopts the perspective of Agency Enactment to explore the process of Digital Inclusion in practice, considering the relationship between the shaping of Digital Inclusion and the organizational environment and actors involved. First, the study uses Main Path Analysis to examine the trajectory of literature on Digital Inclusion. Following this, qualitative case studies are employed to investigate the development of Digital Inclusion in agriculture

The study identifies three critical phases in the digitalization process of agricultural enterprises: the first phase, "Structural Limitations as a Trigger," wherein structural constraints prevent effective transformation; the second phase, "Structure Recombination," where agricultural enterprises introduce and adjust digital technologies to restructure their operations; and the third phase, "Digital Inclusive Agency," in which digital technologies enable agricultural enterprises to overcome previous constraints and realize new organizational capabilities.

This study further proposes three core concepts of Digital Inclusive Agency in agricultural enterprises, revealing how differences in structural limitations and the purposes behind adopting digital technologies lead to diverse trajectories and outcomes in the Digital Inclusion process, thereby creating unique forms of Digital Inclusive Agency within organizations.