Millions across Asia, Africa, Latin America and Oceania remain locked out of meaningful digital participation and from the digital services that increasingly shape everyday life, despite two decades of investment. A new study from the University of Surrey warns the real barrier is the failure of major actors to work together.
The study, published in the Management and Organization Review, draws on evidence from 122 studies across the Global South which show that access to mobile networks, affordable internet and digital skills is improving yet whole communities are still excluded from education, finance and basic services because governments, businesses and international organisations continue to act in isolation.
The research team found that the biggest obstacle is fragmentation of effort, with policies, technologies and training programmes happening in parallel but rarely in partnership. This leaves gaps in infrastructure, affordability and institutional capacity that stop digital services reaching marginalised groups, from rural communities to indigenous populations.
Fred Ofori, lead author of the study and Postgraduate Researcher, Centre for Social Innovation Management (CSIM) at the University of Surrey said:
"Across the Global South we found powerful initiatives that rarely coordinate with one another. The result is millions of people left outside the basic digital services and opportunities most of us take for granted. Until governments, companies and international organisations work together, inequality will simply continue to reproduce itself."
The review identifies five major stakeholder groups shaping digital inclusion across the Global South including government bodies, private sector companies, civil society organisations, international organisations and end users. Each group takes important action, but the impact of these actions depends almost entirely on whether they are coordinated.
Examples include Pakistan where universities and government departments face similar connectivity challenges yet operate without shared strategy. In Indonesia, rural digital services reach villages but remain disconnected from wider development. In Malaysia, tailored community programmes improve indigenous connectivity, but benefits remain limited to specific regions rather than reaching nationwide systems.
Professor Stelvia Matos, co-author of the study and Professor of Sustainable Innovation, Centre for Social Innovation Management (CSIM) at the University of Surrey said:
"We often focus on what technologies to introduce, but not on how those technologies will actually reach people. Unless investment is matched with institutional coordination and cultural understanding, digital programmes remain well intended ideas rather than real solutions that change everyday lives."
Dr Mahdi Tavalaei, co-author of the study and Senior Lecturer in Strategy and Digital Transformation at the University of Surrey, said:
“Governments and development agencies must go beyond infrastructure and skills programmes and instead create clear roles for what they call ecosystem coordination stakeholders who can link national policies with local action and ensure digital investment leads to real participation.”
The study also highlights that meaningful inclusion requires approaches that are culturally relevant and sensitive to gender inequalities, indigenous knowledge and language barriers. Successful examples emerged where local communities were involved in designing solutions particularly in Malaysia, China, and Ghana, where interventions improved social connectedness, rural uptake, financial access and women’s participation.
"What we are really saying is that digital inclusion will only work when national plans and local realities match up. It is not enough to build networks or design apps if they never reach the people they are meant for. When governments, businesses and communities pull in the same direction, digital services stop being abstract programmes and start becoming something people can genuinely use in their daily lives."