Redefining "Laggards" in the Digital Age

In this fast-moving digital age, is it fair—or even realistic—to expect everyone to keep up?

Yuping Zhang, a communication researcher, shares a deeply personal story of caring for her mother with cognitive decline, and how it led her to see the digital world differently. She introduces the idea of “digital nomads”: those who are left out of digital life, either by circumstance or by choice. Her talk challenges the push for total digital inclusion and asks instead—how can we create spaces that allow for different relationships with technology? Shouldn’t innovation be about meeting people’s needs, not making people conform? Yuping Zhang is an Associate Professor at Guangzhou University and holds a PhD in Communication from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Her research focuses on the “information have-less” in China’s digital landscape—those left behind or sidelined by rapid technological progress. From people with disabilities to displaced workers, her work brings visibility to the ones often forgotten in digital policy. Inspired by her mother’s experience, she urges us to rethink inclusion: in a world rushing forward, how do we make sure no one gets left behind simply because they live differently?