10 is 8: Principles for Ethical Digital Inclusion & Measurement
By John Adewole
“No extraction without return.”
Digital inclusion must not only expand access, it must protect dignity, agency, and understanding. Measurement must not only evidence impact, it must create value for those being measured.
This framework began as ten principles. Revisiting it meant admitting that three were saying the same thing three different ways, and that one real gap, consent and data governance, was missing entirely. What follows is the tighter, more honest version: eight principles, plus the frame they all sit inside.
This framework draws on and extends the CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance (Collective Benefit, Authority to Control, Responsibility, Ethics), applied specifically to digital inclusion practice.
1. Clarity Over Complexity
Systems must be understandable to the people who use them.
- No unnecessary technical language
- Clear purpose and function
- Transparent processes
If people cannot explain the system, they are excluded from it.
Principles 2, 3, and 4 look similar at a glance, that’s deliberate. They’re not three versions of the same idea, they’re the same commitment to shared ownership, pinned to three different points in a project’s timeline. How distinct they feel in practice depends on your sector: in tightly governed fields like health research they’re three separate checkpoints with different stakeholders; in lighter-touch community work they may compress into one conversation. The framework names all three so either reader can find their version.
2. Participation by Design
Before — co-design
Communities must be co-creators, not subjects, from the point a project is conceived.
- Design with, not just for
- Embed feedback loops before data collection starts
- Value lived experience as design input, not decoration
3. Measure With, Not On
During & after — co-interpretation
Numbers must not erase lived realities, and the people behind the numbers should help interpret them.
- Combine quantitative and qualitative insight
- Invite challenge and interpretation, don’t just present findings
- Recognise the limits of measurement
4. Value Returned
After — benefit-sharing
Once findings exist, they must benefit the people who generated them, not only the organisation that collected them.
- Share usable insights and findings openly
- Strengthen participating organisations
- Create opportunity through data, not just evidence of it
If value only flows one way, it isn’t participation, it’s extraction with better manners.
5. Accessibility as Standard
Inclusion must be designed from the outset, not retrofitted.
- Use clear language
- Design for varying digital confidence levels
- Ensure usability across contexts
6. Consent, Data Governance & Transparency
Data collected from a community is held in trust, not owned outright, and people must understand how it’s used.
- Informed, specific consent, not blanket sign-off
- Minimise what is collected to what is actually needed
- Set and honour clear retention limits
- Give people a real way to withdraw their data
- Communicate data purpose and limitations honestly and openly
7. Power Awareness
All systems carry power. Ethical practice requires recognising it.
- Who defines success?
- Who benefits?
- Who is excluded?
8. Iteration With Accountability
Systems must evolve based on feedback, visibly.
- Continuous improvement
- Visible changes from feedback
- Ongoing accountability
Dignity at the Centre
Every interaction must respect the individual. Avoid reductive labels. Focus on capability and potential. Preserve agency.
This is not a ninth principle sitting alongside the other eight, it is the frame they all sit inside. Clarity, participation, co-interpretation, value returned, accessibility, consent and governance, power, and iteration are how dignity gets built into a system rather than bolted on afterwards.
In Practice: IFB Gaming
This framework is actively applied through IFB Gaming’s work in digital inclusion, including the development of live measurement tools, community-led interventions, and real-time impact tracking across underserved groups.
Case studies and applied examples will be published here.
Work With Me
If you are a council, organisation, or partner looking to design ethical, measurable, and impactful digital inclusion programmes, I would welcome the opportunity to collaborate.
Ethical digital inclusion is not just about access to technology. It is about access to understanding, participation, and power.
Measurement, when done right, should not just prove impact, it should create it.