This study draws on longitudinal qualitative data and insights from the literature on administrative burdens, street-level bureaucracy, and digital government to advance the debate on digital inclusion. It sheds light on a paradoxical form of digital inclusion enacted by an unexplored tier of private street-level intermediaries. This paradoxical digital inclusion manifests in three ways. First, digitization reduces administrative burdens by streamlining access to digital services, yet it reproduces administrative burdens for digitally disadvantaged users. Second, digital-by-default policies help realize public value generated by digitization, yet they create economic value for street-level intermediaries to monetize digital inclusion. Third, private street-level intermediaries contribute to digital inclusion and benefit economically from sustaining digital exclusion. This study contributes to the literature on digital inclusion and administrative burden by revealing and explaining the complex and paradoxical mechanisms through which digital inclusion is enacted at the street-level. These detailed insights can enrich policy debates on digital inclusion and be useful in designing digital inclusion policies, specifically in contexts where such forms of ‘paradoxical inclusion’ are present.

中文翻译：

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矛盾的数字包容性：街道中介机构在减轻行政负担方面的好坏参半

本研究借鉴了有关行政负担、街道官僚机构和数字政府的纵向定性数据和文献见解，以推进关于数字包容性的辩论。它揭示了由未经探索的私人街头中介机构制定的一种矛盾的数字包容形式。这种矛盾的数字包容性体现在三个方面。首先，数字化通过简化对数字服务的访问来减轻管理负担，但它也为数字弱势用户带来了管理负担。其次，默认数字化政策有助于实现数字化产生的公共价值，同时也为街头中介机构创造经济价值，以实现数字包容性的货币化。第三，私营街头中介机构有助于数字包容性，并从持续的数字排斥中获得经济利益。这项研究通过揭示和解释在街道层面实施数字包容性的复杂而矛盾的机制，为有关数字包容性和行政负担的文献做出了贡献。这些详细的见解可以丰富有关数字包容性的政策辩论，并有助于设计数字包容性政策，特别是在存在这种形式的“矛盾包容性”的背景下。