ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates the parallel implementation of public e-government and integration policies in the intriguing Finnish context, where internet access is among the highest in the world and substantial immigration is relatively new. It describes everyday scenarios in which migrants encounter a hybrid of the so-called information and welfare societies. The rise in the number of migrants and asylum seekers in Europe calls for a more thorough examination of the receiving countries’ integration mechanisms. The chapter illustrates the role played by the resources required to access public e-services and the deficiencies preventing their use. Several kinds of resources influence the quantity and quality of information and communications technology use; these include income, employment and education, gender, ethnicity, generation, social ties, lifestyle, personality, and psychological and physical health. Digital exclusion is thus linked to information and social inequalities that existed long before the rise of the information society.
