From GP appointments to railway tickets to cashless parking, key services in the UK are being delivered digitally. For many, the convenience is a tangible benefit. But there are appreciable downsides for the millions of people who find it difficult to carry out basic day-to-day functions in a world that assumes everyone is comfortable online. In the name of progress, the danger is that a wall is erected between wider society and a group that tends to live outside England’s south‑east and be older, poorer and more vulnerable.
从预约全科医生到买火车票，再到无现金停车，英国的重要服务都在数字化。这给很多人带来了方便，是有目共睹的好处。但对数百万人来说，这也带来了不小的麻烦，他们会觉得在一个大家都上得了网的世界里，连最基本的日常事务都难以办理。以进步为名，却有可能在广大社会和一个通常居住在英格兰东南部之外、年纪较大、贫困易受伤害的群体之间筑起一道隔阂。
The cost of living crisis has only made the matter worse. Citizens Advice said a million people disconnected their broadband in the last year because they couldn’t afford it. This when roughly nine of out 10 of all jobs are advertised only on the internet. Trying to lower household bills these days requires a higher level of technical skills as customer services at banks and energy companies are replaced by chat functions or online contact forms requiring email addresses.
生活成本危机让问题更加严重。公民咨询公司称，去年有100万人因为负担不起宽带费用而断开网络。而此时此刻，几乎所有的工作机会都只在网上发布。现在，想要节省家庭开支就需要更高的技术能力，因为银行和能源公司的客服已经被需要填写电子邮件地址的在线聊天或表单所替代。
It would be wrong to put resources out of the reach of those who would benefit from them most. Yet the government has “ambitions for widespread digital transformation” in at least 75 public services. Earlier this year, Age UK said that many London councils provide no offline access to housing benefit, council tax reductions, rebates, or blue badge applications.
把资源放在那些最需要它们的人够不着的地方是不对的。但是，政府却在至少75项公共服务上“有着广泛数字化改革的雄心”。今年年初，Age UK说，很多伦敦市政府没有提供线下申请住房补贴、减免物业税、退税或残疾人停车证的途径。
In June, the House of Lords communications and digital committee was dismayed to find that the government does not “appear to have conducted a single assessment of the economic impacts of digital exclusion in recent years”. Despite the government’s aim to make the UK the centre of AI regulation internationally, the peers argued in a report that ministers do not have a “credible plan” to tackle digital exclusion.
今年6月，英国上议院通信和数字化委员会惊讶地发现，政府“似乎从未对近年来数字化缺失带来的经济影响做过任何评估”。尽管政府的目标是让英国成为全球人工智能监管的领导者，但委员会在一份报告中认为，内阁成员没有一个“可行的方案”来应对数字化缺失的问题。
There has been little analysis on the impact of artificial intelligence in public-facing services, its likely trajectory over the next five years and the effects on digital exclusion policy. The committee recommended that the prime minister’s office takes a direct interest in tackling the internet underclass because the peers had no faith in the ability of the newly created Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
对于人工智能在面向公众的服务中的影响、未来五年的发展趋势以及对数字化缺失政策的影响，目前还缺乏深入的分析。委员会建议首相办公室亲自着手解决网络弱势群体的问题，因为委员们对新设立的科学、创新和技术部门的能力不抱希望。
The report should be required reading for ministers. It rightly argues for better social tariffs to allow poorer people to gain internet access and says that broadband coverage is not what it should be. Perhaps its most significant contribution is in exposing the limitations of seeing the world wholly through a desiccated cost-benefit analysis. Businesses and government cannot keep on just pushing the process of administering services on to users.
这份报告应该是各部长的必读之作。它恰当地主张提高社会资费的优惠程度，让贫困人群能够接入互联网，并指出宽带覆盖率远未达到应有的水平。也许它最重大的贡献在于揭露了用干巴巴的成本效益分析来看待世界的局限性。企业和政府不能一直只是把提供服务的过程推给用户。
Countries such as Iceland, said the peers, had “prioritised local, in-person support to accompany their digital transformation strategies”. There seems to be a strong case that there must be adequate provision maintained for those who cannot or do not wish to use online public services. That should also be true for key service providers in the private sector – which, as a first step, could be expected to adopt design accessibility standards used by the public sector.
委员们表示，冰岛等国家把当地的、面对面的支持作为其数字化转型战略的重点。似乎有充分的理由认为，必须为那些不能或不愿使用在线公共服务的人保持足够的服务供给。私营部门的主要服务提供者也应该如此——作为第一步，可以期待他们遵循公共部门使用的无障碍设计标准。
With every year, it seems that Britain is, by design, slowly isolating technically less adept groups. Being unable to claim benefits or to speak to customer services because of a lack of computing know-how is unjust. On the grounds of fairness and inclusion, it cannot be allowed to continue.
随着时间的推移，英国似乎有意识地将技术上不太擅长的群体逐渐孤立起来。由于缺乏计算机技能而无法申请福利或与客服人员沟通是不公正的。基于公平和包容的原则，不能容忍这种情况继续发生。
节选自《卫报》：The Guardian view on the digital divide: a growing problem that must be taken seriously
1. tangible adj. 有形的；实际的；真实的；可触摸的
例：tangible benefits/improvements/results, etc. 实际的好处、改进、效果等
2. erect v. 建立；建造；竖立；设立 adj. 垂直的；竖直的；直立的
例：The church was erected in 1582. 此教堂建于1582年。
3. rebate n. 折扣；退还款 v. 削弱；给…回扣；使钝（刀刃）
例：Buyers are offered a cash rebate. 购买者享受现金折扣。
4. dismay n. 惊愕；诧异；灰心；丧气 v. 使诧异；使惊愕；使失望
例：Local councillors have reacted with dismay and indignation...
地方政务委员的反应是惊恐和愤怒。
5. trajectory n. 弹道；轨道；轨线
例：My career seemed to be on a downward trajectory.
我的事业似乎在走下坡路。
6. underclass n. 社会底层；贫困阶层
例：The long-term unemployed are becoming a new underclass.
长期失业的人正形成新的贫困阶层。
7. tariff n. 关税；收费表；量刑标准 v. 征收关税；定税率；定收费标准
例：The daily tariff includes accommodation and unlimited use of the pool and gymnasium. 日常费用包括住宿以及游泳池和健身房的不限时使用。
8. desiccated adj. 脱水的；干燥法保存的；干涸的；枯竭的
例：treeless and desiccated soil 无树的荒芜干旱土地
9. know-how n. 专门知识；技能；实际经验
例：We need skilled workers and technical know-how.
我们需要熟练工人和专业技术知识。
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