Research on the role of digital intermediaries in public services wins award for best paper at international conference WAPOR Latin America – Millennium Institute Foundational Research on Data

The paper "The Missing Link: Identifying Digital Intermediaries in E-Government" was awarded the Edgardo Catterberg Prize for the best paper presented at the WAPOR Latin America conference, one of the most important academic events in public opinion studies in the region.

The research team includes IMFD researchers Sergio Toro, director of the School of Government at Universidad Mayor, and Sebastián Valenzuela, from the Faculty of Communications at Universidad Católica, together with researchers from the Millennium Nucleus on Digital Inequalities and Opportunities (NUDOS) Rocío Sáez-Vergara, Alejandro Olivares, academic at Universidad Mayor; Macarena Valenzuela, academic at the Catholic University of Temuco; and Teresa Correa, academic at Diego Portales University.

Invisible intermediaries: the key to accessing public services

In the study, conducted using data from the 2023 Digital Inclusion Survey, the research highlights a phenomenon that has been underestimated until now: digital intermediaries. "We seek to challenge the idea that e-governments generate a unidirectional and direct relationship with citizens, since intermediaries exist, readjusting and reformulating themselves," Sergio Toro points out. "We created a typology of digital intermediaries based on digital divides: there are digital intermediaries who are close, such as family or friends, but there are also political digital intermediaries, such as deputies or senators."

While 94.3% of households in Chile have internet access and 89% of government procedures are digital, 46% of respondents have never used the Clave Única (Unique Password), despite it being the main mechanism for accessing digital procedures in Chile, and almost 60% need external help to carry out digital procedures, whether from family members, neighbors, or public officials.

This phenomenon has profound implications, as high internet penetration can mask differences in internet quality, skills, and usage, which are also related to geographical and socioeconomic conditions. "The very digital tools created to enhance the government's reach and seek inclusivity may be excluding the very citizens they seek to serve," Toro points out.