Across the Caribbean, government services are rapidly moving online. Benefits applications, healthcare appointments, court filings, and payment systems now demand digital access as the default entry point. Ministries frame these changes as efficiency gains, but beneath the shiny platforms and streamlined interfaces, a quiet challenge unfolds: thousands of Caribbean citizens are being systematically locked out of essential public services because they cannot navigate the digital systems designed to serve them.
This is not a technology problem. It is an implementation problem. When governments digitise services without building the infrastructure, skills, and support systems that enable universal participation, they replace one form of exclusion with another.
Who Gets Left Behind?
The digital divide in the Caribbean cuts along predictable lines of vulnerability. Research from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean shows that in Latin America and the Caribbean region, only 46.4% of low-income households have fixed internet connections compared to 84.6% of wealthier households. The urban-rural divide compounds this disparity further.
Trinidad and Tobago's National Digital Inclusion Survey 2021 confirms what frontline workers already know: digital development varies dramatically across geographic areas and demographic groups. The country's own digital transformation project acknowledges that "providing internet and mobile connections for vulnerable and underserved populations (i.e., rural, physically challenged, youth, and elderly) remains difficult."
Older adults face compounded barriers. They report low confidence using devices, require assistance setting up technology, and struggle with interfaces designed for digital natives. When health services moved online during COVID-19, older adults from minoritised ethnic backgrounds faced particular challenges navigating remote appointments, understanding digital platforms, and explaining symptoms without in-person interaction.
People with disabilities encounter accessibility barriers that designers often fail to anticipate. Screen readers break on poorly coded forms. Visual or motor impairments make complex navigation impossible. Cognitive differences clash with rigid, unforgiving interfaces.
Rural communities face infrastructure gaps that no amount of digital literacy training can overcome. Unreliable connectivity, expensive data packages, and limited device access create fundamental barriers before questions of skill even arise.
Migrants navigating government systems in their non-native language find digital platforms particularly unforgiving. Unlike human counter staff who can clarify misunderstandings, automated systems offer no flexibility for language barriers or cultural confusion about administrative processes.
The Hidden Costs of Online-Only Systems
When governments shift services online without maintaining alternative access points, the consequences extend far beyond inconvenience.
Benefits go unclaimed. When applying for social assistance requires online submission, those without reliable access or digital skills simply cannot apply. They miss deadlines, fail to navigate multi-step verification processes, or abandon applications when error messages provide no clear path forward. The system counts these failures as reduced demand rather than systemic exclusion.
Healthcare delays become dangerous. Online appointment booking seems efficient until you consider the person who cannot secure a slot because they lack internet access, the elderly patient who misses follow-up care because email notifications disappeared into spam folders, or the diabetic who cannot refill prescriptions through the new portal.
Informal fixers emerge. A shadow economy develops around digital access. People pay neighbours or relatives to complete online forms, creating dependencies that compromise privacy and agency. Some turn to storefront businesses charging fees to navigate government websites, introducing costs that defeat the purpose of free public services.
Dignity erodes. Being unable to independently access services your taxes support diminishes citizenship. The message received is clear: you do not count in this modernised system unless you can keep up.
The False Assumption: Phone Ownership Equals Digital Access
Policy makers often confuse device ownership with digital capability. Yes, high mobile phone penetration exists across Trinidad and Tobago, exceeding Latin American and Caribbean averages. But owning a smartphone and successfully navigating complex government portals are entirely different capabilities.
Digital literacy research consistently demonstrates that merely having access to devices does not translate to effective use. People need information navigation literacy to access the internet safely. They require culturally appropriate content in plain language. They need confidence overcoming fear of making mistakes. Research shows that digital skills shape people's digital experience, helping them overcome fear of using electronic devices and navigate digital spaces effectively.
When governments assume "everyone has a phone now" and design accordingly, they systematically exclude those whose phone skills extend to calls and WhatsApp but not to multi-factor authentication, PDF uploads, or government portal navigation.
What Inclusive Digital Government Actually Requires
Moving services online can genuinely improve access and efficiency, but only when implementation considers how citizens will actually use these systems. Caribbean governments pursuing digital transformation can learn from both successes and failures across the region and globally.
Maintain assisted digital channels. Not everyone will successfully use digital services independently. Trinidad and Tobago's digital transformation project explicitly aims to "improve efficiency and reduce transaction costs to government and citizens, while expanding the inclusiveness of the provision of such services to the elderly, the poor, persons with disabilities, women and girls and residents of rural communities." This requires trained staff who can guide users through digital processes, help desks in community locations, and phone support that does not simply redirect to websites.
Design for offline alternatives. Essential services should never exist only online. Paper forms, in-person appointments, and telephone submission options must remain available, particularly for services affecting basic rights and entitlements. Research on European digital public services shows that barriers such as limited digital skills, access to technology, and inadequate service design disproportionately affect vulnerable groups including the elderly and low-income populations.
Build digital skills as social protection. Digital literacy cannot be treated as a personal responsibility separate from service delivery. When governments require digital access for benefits, healthcare, or civic participation, they must provide structured pathways to acquiring necessary skills. Community-engaged learning approaches that bring trained facilitators into communities show promise for reducing digital divides experienced by underserved populations.
Test with actual users before launch. Caribbean governments pursuing digital transformation initiatives can incorporate user testing with vulnerable populations before rolling out new systems. What works for a ministry official with reliable internet and university education may fail completely for a rural resident with intermittent connectivity and primary school completion. Implementation science frameworks like the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) emphasise assessing characteristics of individuals including their knowledge, beliefs, and self-efficacy before expecting adoption.
Create feedback mechanisms that capture exclusion. When people cannot access services, they often disappear from official view. Systems should track abandonment rates, failed attempts, and requests for assistance as signals of exclusion rather than simply measuring successful completions. This data should drive iterative improvement rather than being dismissed as user error.
The Urgency of Now
Governments are moving quickly. The UN E-Government Survey shows Latin American and Caribbean countries are highly committed to pursuing digital government strategies. Multiple regional initiatives from UN DESA, ECLAC, the World Bank, and the IDB are actively supporting Caribbean digital transformation.
But speed without inclusion creates harm. Every month that services exist only online is a month that vulnerable citizens cannot access what they need. Every poorly designed portal is another barrier to healthcare, income support, or civic participation.
Progress should be measured not by platforms launched or services digitised, but by whether all citizens can actually access what they need. When a rural grandmother can apply for her pension, when a migrant can renew their work permit, when a person with disabilities can complete a form independently, when anyone needing government services can do so with dignity, then we will have achieved digital transformation worth celebrating.
Until then, what governments are building is not modernisation. It is another way to leave people behind.
Need support implementing inclusive digital government services? Uwàmìto Consulting works with Caribbean governments and development organisations to design and implement digital transformation initiatives that genuinely serve all citizens. Our implementation science expertise helps you navigate the complex human factors that determine whether technological investments create value or create new barriers. Get in touch to discuss how we can support your inclusive digital transformation journey.
