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Communication and Information Technologies Annual

Public Policies and Social Inclusion: A Sociotechnical Analysis of Televisión Digital
Abierta in Argentina
Soledad Analía Ayala María Cecilia Vila
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PUBLIC POLICIES AND SOCIAL

INCLUSION: A SOCIOTECHNICAL
ANALYSIS OF TELEVISIÓN
DIGITAL ABIERTA IN ARGENTINA
Soledad Analı́a Ayala and Marı́a Cecilia Vila
ABSTRACT
Purpose The present paper analyzes the implementation of Open

Digital Television (Televisión Digital Abierta or TDA) in Argentina. It
takes up a sociotechnical standpoint and considers TDA as a public
policy designed to foster social inclusion.
Methodology/approach The ideas presented in this paper are derived
from a sociotechnical perspective, both at a theoretical and at a metho-
dological level. The main postulates of this perspective are based on
constructivist criteria; they explain outcomes as a result of the constant
interplay of technical and social realities. Thus, this relation is intrinsic
and continuous. We work with the concept of technology in its broadest
sense. That is to say, TDA is not seen as just a mass communication
infrastructure, but as a technology which involves knowledge, production
practices, and content broadcasting, as a result of the interrelation of
Communication and Information Technologies Annual: Digital Empowerment:

Opportunities and Challenges of Inclusion in Latin America and the Caribbean
Studies in Media and Communications, Volume 12, 231 250
Copyright r 2017 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited
All rights of reproduction in any form reserved
ISSN: 2050-2060/doi:10.1108/S2050-206020160000012013
231
232 SOLEDAD ANALÍA AYALA AND MARÍA CECILIA VILA
cultural, political, social, economic, scientific, and technological factors.

The study of TDA in Argentina as a public policy for social inclusion
shows how the constant sociotechnical interrelations have to be taken
into account (technical standard, antenna features, social actors
involved, produced content, etc.) throughout the whole process, from the
conception and design of public policies to their implementation, but

mainly at the stage of results analysis.
Findings We concluded that throughout the implementation of the
TDA public policy, a determinist view of technology prevailed. This can
be seen in relation to both the role of television as a medium for social

inclusion and the actions regarding the role of the user. The idea of
viewer in the traditional sense prevailed over the idea of an active user.
This stage provides significant data to assess the range and the limita-
tions of the current public policy, and to think of improvements to imple-
ment in the future. These observations suggest a new challenge lying on
the horizon: to construct a new concept of television; that is, to analyze
TV as a social actor that is crucial for social inclusion rather than simply
a medium of mass communication.
Practical implications The sociotechnical perspective sheds light on
the actors involved in the development, implementation, and production
of a public policy designed for social inclusion. It focuses both on the
government plan and the usage practices of the users themselves. The
approach we propose for the study of the relation between technology
and public policy is consistent with the notion of an active government.
Originality/value The value of this paper lies in its theoretical and
methodological approach, since a sociotechnical analysis grounded on
relativism is a different view to the one that is dominant in studies in the
field of communication and public policies. This view offers innovative
insights into the problems regarding TDA by exploring the interrelations
between actors and the power relations embedded in the public policy.
Keywords: Digital television; sociotechnical perspective; public
policies of communication; social inclusion; development; education
INTRODUCTION
The present paper is a critical analysis of Open Digital Television
(Televisión Digital Abierta, henceforth referred to as TDA) in Argentina,
Public Policies and Social Inclusion 233
inspired by a sociotechnical theoretical perspective (Bijker, 1995; Collins,

1985; Bijker, Hughes, & Pinch, 1987; Thomas, 1999, 2001; Vercelli &
Thomas, 2007). It considers TDA a public policy aiming at social inclusion
via public policies governing communication, particularly policies regard-
ing information and communication technology (henceforth referred to as
ICT). The initial findings of the study are part of a post-doctoral research
project. The project has been carried out by the Institute for the Study
of Science and Technology of the National University of Quilmes in colla-
boration with a research project carried out by the Faculty of Social
Sciences of the National University of San Juan, both of which are institu-
tions of higher education in Argentina.

The aim of the study is to investigate the ways in which the sociotech-
nical perspective can help us to illuminate the power relations involved in
the development and implementation of TDA. Officially, TDA is defined
as “(…) a public policy for digital integration, seeking to ensure universal
free access to free-to-air television” (Open Digital Television Official
Website: http://www.tda.gob.ar/, translation).
The Argentine case is particularly interesting because it was one of the
first countries in South America to implement and expand Digital
Terrestrial Television (henceforth referred to as DTT) through public poli-
cies implemented by the National Executive Branch (henceforth referred to
as PEN). Unlike other countries where the private sector took the initiative,
Argentina’s government was the initiating agent behind the development of
the TDA infrastructure across the country.
It is imperative to offer a brief retrospective overview in order to under-
stand the circumstances in which the TDA policy originated. Communication
policies applying to digital television emerged in Latin America in the mid-
1990s, soon after the beginning of this process in the United States and
Europe. A privatist business model for radio broadcasting was gradually
implemented. As a number of articles claim (Página/12 (Uranga, 2014) and
Buenos Aires Herald (Poore, 2014)), this amounted to a re-regulation rather
than a deregulation of the industry (see also Becerra & Mastrini, 2008;
Mastrini, Becerra, Bizberge, & Krakowiak, 2012). This means that there were
no longer protectionist or interventionist policies (present in a welfare state)
shaping the cultural industries. The new logic which emerged to shape these
communication policies was dictated by from the financial markets. By the end
of the first decade of the 21st century, communication policies in Argentina
took a different turn. Through a social movement called Coalición por una
Radiodifusión Democrática (Coalition for Democratic Broadcast Regulation),
several segments of the population (unions, public universities, community
outreach programs, small political parties, social organizations, among others)

fueled the debate appearing on the public agenda. This debate concerned
the democratization of communication media and, in October of 2009, new
legislation regarding audiovisual communication services was sanctioned
(law n.º 26.522). This law declares such services a matter of public interest and
facilitates their regulation from a Human Rights standpoint.

That same year, a month prior to the promulgation of the law, the PEN
created the Argentine System of Digital Terrestrial Television (henceforth
referred to as SATVD-T), along with communication policies for its imple-
mentation. This occurred in the run up to analogue television’s anticipated
technological shutdown by 2019. Prior to the creation of the SATVD-T,

the Argentine government adopted the ISDB-Tb standard, which is the
Japanese standard for digital television with modifications added for its
implementation in Brazil. Part of the actions carried out during the last five
years involved choosing this Japanese-Brazilian technical standard and
installing antennas to cover up to 80% of the national territory. This infra-
structure was needed in order to provide the TDA service, which includes a
set of public signals, private signals for profit and non-profit private
signals. This standard attracted a strong consensus among South American
countries; it was adopted by Chile, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay,
Uruguay, and Peru. When the standard was chosen, the government high-
lighted the political goal of integration and commercialization of content
among the member countries of the Union of South American Nations.
The choice of the ISDB-Tb standard for the development of TDA in
Argentina was strategic from a sociotechnical standpoint. In other words,
the government considered not only its technical aspects, but its social
aspects as well: the benefits of compatibility to produce, exchange, broad-
cast and manage different types of content.
Certain decisions surrounding the regulation of media were driven by
events and developments occurring outside the boundaries of the country.
The TDA policy and the choice of the ISDB-Tb standard occurred in the
context of an intense competition between world powers, with the United
States, Europe, and Japan as the main promoters of the ATSC, DVB and
ISDB-T standards, respectively. A few years later, China joined them with
the DTMB standard.1
In addition to choosing the standard, the Argentine government imple-
mented a set of communication policies to aid the development of infra-
structure, in order to guarantee access to TDA. For example, the
government provided for the installation of antennas to broadcast the
service across the country through the creation of the national state
company, ARSAT. It also promoted the production of audiovisual content

for TDA’s public channels and the free distribution of adapters and receiv-
ing antennas for homes at risk of digital exclusion. Thus, on top of estab-
lishing the technical infrastructure of TDA, the government financed the
production of audiovisual content for TDA signals under the principle of
federalization. This was an unprecedented event in the history of Argentina’s

public policies regarding audiovisual content.
As we previously stated, our main goal is to analyze TDA2 from a socio-
technical perspective as a policy scheme oriented toward social inclusion. The
paper examines whether the government has achieved coherence between the
design of the policy, the actions implemented and the possibilities for social
inclusion that the TDA platform offers. In other words, it sets aside the
notion that television is just a mass communication medium and examines
the reasons to see TDA as an important agent for social, educational, and
cultural development. The implementation of TDA represents a challenge to
the planning of public policies of communication in a country where the
penetration of private cable companies has reached 68% of the population,
according to the latest National Survey of Cultural Consumption (Encuesta
Nacional de Consumos Culturales y Entorno Digital, p. 7).3
To analyze TDA from a sociotechnical perspective implies studying it
from an epistemologically relativist standpoint; that is, to inquire into the
origin and purpose of TDA, the features of the network of power relations
and the current state of affairs. This epistemological approach entails put-
ting aside the notions of technological determinism and approaching TDA
(its technical, social, cultural and educational potential) as a sociotechnically
relevant actor. TDA is capable of fostering social inclusion by playing a role
in the approach, implementation and assessment of public policy programs
for social development. This theoretical perspective considers that social
inclusion has a different meaning for each social actor, each region, each
context, and each specific problem. It is possible to develop strategies for
social inclusion with TDA as a key element within the framework of various
public policies. This involves the identification of different usage practices,
content, and the manner in which the content is conceived and produced.
For this reason, creativity is a crucial resource in thinking about the criteria
to be used to implement these actions in the framework of public policies.
A number of questions are prompted by this perspective. Some of these
questions include:
• How can TDA create actions for social inclusion and development?
• What is its new social, cultural, educational and political role in the process?
• How can a mass communication medium be used as an agent for social

development?
• What communication strategies should be outlined to promote
social inclusion?
• What logic and criteria should these strategies follow?
• How should goals, production of content and user interactions be con-

sidered from a sociotechnical perspective?
• How should social, political, and cultural relations between the medium
and the different social actors (schools, institutions, companies, NGOs,
etc.) be considered?
• How can public policies of communication identify each region’s necessi-

ties and adapt television proposals to those necessities, in order to solve
concrete problems?
• What other challenges concerning communication and television can be
identified in the interrelation between the technical and social aspects of
each region?
These questions, among others, offer the chance to approach the subject
matter from an illuminating perspective.
We have stated that it is necessary to consider TDA as a relevant socio-
technical actor driving the design, implementation, and assessment of
public policy programs geared toward social development. In others words,
television (TDA in Argentina) serves as a key technology in potentially
promoting social inclusion. In fact, the Advisory Council of the SATVD-T
is in charge of assessing the accomplishment of TDA’s objectives, one of
which is “(…) to promote social inclusion, cultural diversity and the
national language through the access to digital technology, as well as the
democratization of information” (Decree n.° 1148/2009, 2009, translation).
Along these lines, we will provide a brief overview of the implementa-
tion of the service in Argentina. This survey will also cover actions which
are still pending. After that, we will inquire into the potential of the
TDA policies to advance social inclusion goals. This standpoint opens
the door to considering TDA as a set of affordances which can help
address social problems such as illiteracy, the prevention of diseases, and
the promotion of social changes in communities. To conclude, we will
express some thoughts on the unresolved challenges of Argentina’s com-
munication policies in the present historical context. We will also outline
the need to overcome another challenge: to conceive digital television in
a wholly different epistemological way. And to conclude this paper
(though not the research), we will present relevant data oriented at
promoting and elaborating an inclusive approach to technology, espe-

cially with an open and free service like TDA.
WHAT IS THE SOCIOTECHNICAL PERSPECTIVE?

One of the main contributions of this paper is to analyze TDA from a

sociotechnical perspective based on social constructivism or the theory of
social construction of technology.4 To think about TDA from this epi-
stemological5 perspective means to move away from technological deter-
minism, which animates a number of research papers about technology.
This perspective implies thinking of TDA as a technology which cannot be

reduced to a purely material infrastructure and which cannot be considered
as nothing more than technology.6 It is important to remember that, when
we speak of technology, we refer to knowledge entangled with specific tech-
niques and sociocultural practices. Technology can also implicate types of
language, forms of government, organizational forms, and affordances
associated with particular artifacts (digital television in this case). The
application of technological solutions typically involves advice, power rela-
tions, political, economic, legal and cultural processes, and temporally and
geographically situated scientific advances. Therefore, in order to analyze
TDA from this perspective, we have to leave aside determinism’s biased,
linear, and reductionist research paradigm.7 We embrace the idea that
society and technology co-constitute one another in a relation which is at
once constant, intrinsic, and ontological.
From a sociotechnical standpoint, it is important to inquire into the
origin and purpose of a technological artifact, the features of the network
of power relations in which it is designed and used, and the temporal and
geographical context in which it appears. Social actors are considered
active elements with the ability to make decisions and perform acts of resis-
tance. For example, they can reconfigure, reconstruct, and adapt their tech-
nology usage practices according to their interests, tastes, convenience, and
necessities. The ontological presuppositions of this perspective highlight the
constant interconnections between society and technology. These linkages
are viewed as the result of specific socio-political and historical constella-
tions. Contextualizing technology allows us to recognize that its sociotech-
nical function varies according to different contexts. Educational, social,
cultural, geographical, and gender factors can all come into play in shaping
the concrete enactments of technologies such as TDA. As a result, the
public policies related to TDA are interconnected and work in a diverse,
particular, specific, and heterogeneous manner.
Where TDA is deployed as a technological agent promoting social inclu-

sion, it is critical to recognize that the different patterns of usage as well
as the content and the way it is designed and produced cannot be
reduced to linear, identical, or universal mechanisms. Usage practices are
necessarily diverse across users and contexts. Users are active, they have
the ability to decide; their practices differ and are historically, temporally,
and geographically rooted in a specific context. Effective strategies advan-
cing social inclusion in Buenos Aires will necessarily differ from those
which work in Córdoba, in Tierra del Fuego or in San Juan. The social
actors involved in the development of a strategy will also be different in
each place and their strategies will be designed and implemented in differ-
ent ways. It is therefore critical to contextualize the analysis and to recog-
nize the complexity of the elements involved, as well as the power relations
in each of the different regions of the country.
Both the material configuration and the functioning of an artifact like
TDA will reflect political pressures, forms of resistance, negotiations and
convergence between actors, as well as the legal, cultural, technological,
and economic setting. As we mentioned, TDA is a public policy for digital
integration. Consequently, one of its goals is to develop and articulate stra-
tegies for social inclusion, regional integration, and the democratization of
information. Therefore, we can consider TDA as a technology that can
achieve social inclusion, to generate new spaces of liberty and justice, and
to empower excluded sectors of the population, through the design, devel-
opment, implementation, and management of various technologies (pro-
duct, process, and organization technologies) (Thomas, 2009).
Due to its current and future scope, TDA is a key social element in the
conception of policies for a sustainable and inclusive development. It is not
merely a group of technical elements, a mass communication medium with
a specific language. It is a technology which constantly manifests sociotech-
nical interrelations. With TDA we can see how audiovisual products create
a certain viewpoint on specific topics, and how society constructs, at the
same time, its own views on television and on TDA.
ABOUT TDA: BEGINNINGS AND CURRENT STATE

As with any type of technology, television was not invented overnight and
it has not replaced any existing technology (photography, film, radio, etc.).
Television combines technical elements and social practices, often with the
goal of informing and entertaining a viewing audience. No one knows this
better than Raymond Williams:
The invention of television was no single event or series of events. It depended on a

complex of inventions and developments in electricity, telegraphy, photography and
motion pictures, and radio. (…) [It was] developed as a specific technological enterprise
from 1920 through to the first public television systems of the 1930s. (…) it depended
for parts of its realisation on inventions made with other ends primarily in view.
(1975, pp. 14 15)
Television services have become increasingly complex; their social, political,

cultural, informative, entertainment, and educational functions have grown
significantly. The transition from analogue to digital, the choice of a speci-
fic standard (considering this multiplicity of functions), and the possibility
of interactivity are some of the many aspects of this development process.

In Argentina, the first political decision regarding DTT took place in
1998, by the end of Carlos Menem’s second presidency. Through resolution
2357/98, the PEN adopted the American ATSC standard. In 2006, with
Néstor Kirchner as president, the government created the Comisión de
Estudio y Análisis de los Sistemas de Televisión Digital (Committee for the
Study and Analysis of Digital Television Systems), in order to reevaluate
and recommend a new technical standard. Three years later, during
Cristina Fernández’s first presidency and through decree 1148, dated
August 31, 2009 (one month prior to the sanction of the audiovisual
communication services law), the SATVD-T was created, based on the
ISDB-Tb standard. It is a Japanese system with modifications applied for
implementation in Brazil. This standard achieved a strong foothold in
South American countries; it was applied in Chile, Venezuela, Ecuador,
Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Peru, as Bizberge, Mastrini, and Becerra
(2011) mention in their research. Months after, the PEN declared the
Plataforma Nacional de Televisión Digital Terrestre (National Platform for
Digital Terrestrial Television) as a public service. This platform involves
systems guiding the transmission and reception of digitalized signals.
According to data provided by the Ministry of Federal Planning in its June
2014 report, there is a total of 85 operational stations across the country,
which provide signals to 83% of the national population.
Open Digital Television is a part of DTT, which in turn forms part of
National Telecommunications Plan, Argentina Conectada (Argentina
Connected). Not only does the plan promote the digital system for tele-
vision, but it also promotes the expansion of connectivity and access to
ICT. As part of the same plan, the Ministry of Federal Planning also cre-
ated the Plan Operativo de Acceso al Equipamiento para la Recepción de
la Televisión Digital Abierta (Access to Equipment for the Reception of
TDA Operational Plan), now called Mi TV Digital (My Digital TV), a
policy within the sphere of two other policies: the Strategic Plan for
SATVD-T and the National Platform for Digital Terrestrial Television.
The Advisory Council of the SATVD-T is in charge of the planning and
coordination unit of the Access Plan. Its general objectives are as follows:
To generate the policies and actions necessary to facilitate the universalization of the
benefit associated to the technological transition and the digital convergence, in the
framework of the implementation of the SATVD-T. To generate integration mechan-
isms directed at social groups at risk of exclusion during the technological transition
process from analogue to digital television. (Reglamento General del Plan Operativo de
Acceso, p. 3, translation)
As a unit charged with the implementation of the DTT platform, ARSAT

is responsible for following through in order to assure its objectives are
met. The program was designed to directly benefit two main groups in light
of their social role and their degree of vulnerability in the technological
transition process. These are government entities and social organizations
on the one hand, and socioeconomically vulnerable households on the
other hand such as the households headed by retirees or welfare recipients
or families with the Asignación Universal por Hijo social policy (universal
allocation per child). A report on the state of digital television was issued
by the Ministry of Planning in June 2014, stating that 1,418,053 converters
were distributed across the national territory.
Neither the implementation of the ISDB-Tb standard nor the develop-
ment of TDA in Argentina can be separated from the legal environment
created by the audiovisual communication services law8 (González &
Caraballo, 2012, p. 233). While communication is considered a right, and
interactivity and social inclusion are the most relevant objectives of TDA,
we must consider the following:
The current state of audiovisual public media and their presence on new screens has a
basis in government decisions of political, social and cultural transcendence. This is
because we believe it is indispensable to refer to the politico-communicational context.
(Murolo, 2014, p. 209, translated)
As with any technology in its first stages, the sociotechnical potential of

TDA is immense. This applies to all concrete actions and strategies which
can be implemented to achieve a sustainable and inclusive development.
The potential increases if we consider the interaction possibilities that
DTT offers. These are digital television’s most distinctive and promising
resources. They are of great value for future sociotechnical developments
regarding social inclusion.
TDA AND SOCIAL INCLUSION: A COMBINATION

WITH GREAT POTENTIAL
Over the last few years, there has been a revival of debates in Argentina
related to the design, production and implementation of public policies and
institutional strategies for the production and implementation of ICT and

for sustainable development in this field. While studies about ICT abound,
only a few studies link ICT to the problem of sustainable and inclusive
development. For this reason, our purpose is to analyze relevant data
where TDA is considered an element in public policy relating to ICT. We
want to find how it can be applied in advancing sustainable and inclusive

development. But before we proceed to answer this question, we have to
ask how social inclusion should be defined. It is possible to produce content
for an educational campaign relating to the reduction of illiteracy, the pre-
vention of diseases, emergency preparedness, or the efficient handling of
scarce resources.
From a sociotechnical perspective, social inclusion has a different
meaning and analysis for each social actor, each region, each context,
and each specific problem. This means that each social actor has a differ-
ent perspective on social inclusion, and they will associate it with specific
actions. Social inclusion will acquire a specific meaning and relevance,
depending on the needs, the context and the problems they consider
imperative. Social inclusion can mean reducing illiteracy, finding solutions
for the access to potable water, communicating measures to prevent cer-
tain diseases in the area, or determining the steps to follow in the case of
a flood, just to name a few. That said, can a public policy actually
address such a wide range of problems? We believe that the answer is
yes. However, there is no national public policy that defines general
aspects of social inclusion and the implementation strategies to adapt
them to each region. Each solution will vary according to the area, the
necessities and the meanings assigned by each actor. In other words, if
TDA can facilitate the democratic use of the screen (Vallina, 2012) this
can enhance the possibilities for freedom and sociocultural expression.
One of TDA’s foundations is the federalization of content, to give local
producers, who are aware of the priorities and the problems of the area,
an opportunity to communicate these issues in order to solve them. This
task can be done by universities, NGOs, collectives, etc. The federaliza-
tion of content involves the installation of antennas and local channels
for each region.
Our review of documents, book chapters, and journal articles led to sev-
eral insights into the idea of inclusion. First, it appears that analogue-to-
digital converters have been widely distributed so that viewers can watch
digital television on an analogue television set. Second, in the majority of
the content produced, fiction is prioritized over strictly educational content.
Regarding the first insight, Dr. Martı́n Becerra explains:
The state builds the infrastructure for the transmission of signals to lease to the private
sector and to NGOs. According to the Ministry of Planning, 71 towers covering 82%
of the population have already been installed. Although coverage does not equal access
or use. The government has funded the distribution of more than a million converters
for low-income sectors under a loan for use agreement. In addition to the investment in
infrastructure, the government finances the production of content, an unprecedented
measure in most of the country, and it facilitates the equipment for small and middle-
sized producers. The content produced by these companies is free and available on the
internet, and it can be broadcast through public, private, collective or university chan-
nels. In addition, government signals with quality productions were created. (Becerra,
2014, p. 2)
In theory, anyone with a converter has access to digital television.

However, it is not that simple, as the employment of technology is never
free of unintended consequences. If it were, then this would mean that indi-
viduals who received the converters would necessarily wind up consuming
digital content. In reality, however, the adoption of converters is a complex
process which unfolds differently for different users. Many contextual
factors in this process, such as the installation of antennas, converter
distribution logic, content production and broadcasting, and TDA use, come
into play when studying the coexistence of digital and analogue technology,
the usage practices and the consumption of televised content, and the way
users construct their relation to televised content.
Regarding the second insight, most of the televised content produced
under different plans for the promotion of content, as the Polos Audiovisuales
Tecnológicos Program (Technological Audiovisual Poles),9 is entertainment-
oriented rather than oriented toward education or cultural enrichment
(González & Caraballo, 2012, 2014; Murolo, 2014). However, not all content
is aimed at entertainment. Indeed, the production of educational content has
improved significantly. In this sense, researcher Alfredo Alfonso, of the
National University of Quilmes, explains as follows:
The project was combined with a previous project, the Educ.ar portal, and with the
incorporation of an interactive dynamics to develop practices. It is important to high-
light the decision to enable access to all the content on the web through the Contenidos
Digitales Abiertos (Open Digital Content) portal, along with the possibility of
downloading content from the educational digital television cycles from the Conectate
website. (2014, p. 24, translated)
Regarding the current state of production of educational content and the

importance of reading policies,10 Mónica Rubalcaba explains that “the
AFSA annual report allows us to highlight that content categorized as ‘Kids’

and as ‘Educational/Cultural’ rarely appears in the broadcast programming
and has fluctuated in its growth and decline” (2014, pp. 186 187, translated).
This leads to the following questions: Can all content designed for social
inclusion be conceived in the same sociotechnical way? Can content designed
to create a public service campaign, to foster literacy or to prevent a disease

be sociotechnically conceived in the same way as the current content? Or
should such content be designed in a different way, in view of its particular
informative, aesthetic, and visual features? Even though these questions
can fall under a more theoretical scope, they are still valid for the pre-
sent analysis.
We could say that TDA, as a part of public policies of communication
(specifically those related to ICT), is conceptualized more as a mass commu-
nication technology than an agent driving sustainable and inclusive develop-
ment. It was conceived as a state-of-the-art technology to broaden the
spectrum of analogue television in order to multiply its reach to new places
and users. Following Denis McQuial’s contributions (1992), we can observe
that this policy has focused on aspects related to infrastructure and technol-
ogy such as efficient development, the updating and functioning of websites,
broadcast systems, and other technical elements that enable the provision
and reception of the service. It has also focused on the installation of anten-
nas, based on the ISDB-Tb standard and the technical conditions for access,
such us ensuring nationwide coverage and distributing decoders to users at
risk of digital exclusion. Regarding content, subsidies were implemented for
the production of programs, thereby promoting diversity and the federaliza-
tion of the programming on public and private signals and nonprofits
with access to antenna rights. The truth is that, over five years after the
implementation of the TDA system, the usage and consumption of the
service remains low. Even though the principle of access has been partially
achieved, audience participation remains a challenge.
Due to its technical features and the way it was socially and legally con-
ceived, TDA should be considered as an agent fueling sustainable and
inclusive development in the different regions of the country. Depending
on the time and place in which they are applied, technologies trigger speci-
fic processes tending toward either social inclusion or exclusion associated
with specific usage practices and social behaviors. They thereby actively
participate in social, economic, political, ideological, and cultural changes.
This allows us to infer and analyze the footprints of their design, the exist-
ing cultural, political, and legal structures which constructed them, and we
can see if the population was taken into account. Along those lines:
(…) the intersection of two notions, the distribution of exclusion and the constant re-
definition of the conditions for belonging to society, offers a framework in which to
explore the question of rights, particularly the evolution of new rights. If we accept that
citizens’ rights are in a constant construction process, and if exclusion is crucial to
understand how democracy works, then it is imperative to analyze the perspectives of
the new challenges in the world of citizenship. (Armony, 2012, p. 88, translated)
Citizenship can be constructed through the production of entertainment

content, but also through the production of educational and cultural pro-
grams. If we consider communication to be a human right, the combination
of science and technology is imperative to construct conditions for inclu-
sion from the very conception of public policies. And following this line of
thought, we agree with Armony when he explains that “technological
advances should not create new conditions of exclusion or intensify the
existing ones” (2012, p. 89, translated).
SOME CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS

The study of TDA viewed as the fruit of a public policy designed to
enhance social inclusion shows that the usage practices of television and
the consumption of content are just as important (or even more) as mate-
rial infrastructure and raw access. Users are therefore vital players in
public policy. Their needs and desires should be considered in the design,
production, and implementation of technologies aimed at making massive
cultural changes and promoting social inclusion.
TDA has not made a significant impact among viewers. Even though
the principle of access has been partially achieved, audience participation
remains a challenge. It is praiseworthy that Argentina’s government has
contemplated a policy to guarantee basic access to free-to-air television,
with a high image and sound quality. There are several reasons why audi-
ences have not fully embraced this service. One of the main reasons is
the heavy expansion of cable companies since the 1990s. These firms sell
their services and therefore undermine the market for free-to-air television
in private homes. In addition, in the last five years, these access channels
have become increasingly sophisticated in a context of technological con-

vergence through the multiplicity of screens and internet access.
Social, cultural, educational, and political practices create the function-
ing of a technology, but they are also a critical part in the design of public
policies. This leads to a number of questions. Future research should
enquire why TDA is not being exploited to its full potential. What cultural
forces or conflicting policy agendas might hinder the implementation of
TDA? Is mass communication media not perceived as a tool for sustainable
development? This research opens up these new paths for additional
research.
Due to the recent changes in the political landscape, it has become

increasingly difficult to design and implement public policies oriented at
working with TDA from a sociotechnical perspective to promote social
inclusion. Since the start of 2016, in the matter of communication, the
beneficiaries of the new policies are the big multimedia groups in the
country. One way to redress this problem is to redesign the strategy for
the installation of antennas. Another strategy involves reconfiguring com-
munication and mass communication media so that they can serve more
effectively to unleash social change and generate sustainable and inclusive
development. This is especially relevant if we take into account the recent
political changes in our country.
The policies regarding TDA remain unclear a few months after the politi-
cal alliance Cambiemos, lead by the PRO Party, came to power in
Argentina. Government officials responsible for the regulation of communi-
cation and public media have not outlined the next steps. It was through
Necessity and Urgency Decrees issued by the PEN that significant changes
were made to the audiovisual communication services law, primarily in rela-
tion to the limits to the concentration of property by the media and to the
structures of the government through the creation of a new controlling
entity, called ENACOM, in the new National Ministry of Communications,
an agency in charge of the regulation of telecommunications and audio-
visual communication.
This is a sign that the government will not continue with the communi-
cation policies implemented under a framework of Human Rights over the
last seven years. For this reason, it is necessary to promote this inclusive
perspective on technology delivered through an open and free service like
TDA. It is important to continue and move forward with the implementa-
tion of action plans like pilot tests and laboratories to observe, analyze,
and promote other possible uses for television. The results of these pilot
tests would become relevant data for the design of new socially inclusive
policies associated with ICT. There are possibilities for scaling such
arrangements as a community TV channel, a neighborhood radio station,
and even a public medium, which can all be easily expanded from small
programs to large ones.
We are undergoing a process that has made it necessary to change the
conception of forms of mass communication and utilize communication

media with other goals that exceed the communicational aspect. We must
consider from a sociotechnical perspective its social, educational, cultural,
and political functions and uses. The challenge is to see TDA as an agent
for social, educational and cultural development guided by public policies
oriented toward social inclusion. We have to consider it as an agent for the

creation of strategies and actions for intervention, in order to improve the
diverse realities of each region: “(…) as a new gnoseological paradigm,
audiovisual digital communication establishes a close link between media
productions and descriptive, critical and theoretical quality to promote new
communicational scenarios” (Vallina, 2012, p. 30, translated).
Programs aimed at inclusion can be designed around a communication
medium with a strong presence in Argentine homes and can serve as the
foundation for social practices. What is necessary is to adopt an integra-
tionist approach to communication and to abandon technological deter-
minism. This approach:
(…) also means to place the subject in the centre of the scene as a creator of social rela-
tions which intertwine in their daily life. It also assumes that any intervention linked to
communication exceeds by far a technical or technological operation. It demands a
complex view of relations, of meanings and of the senses that are produced. And in the
communicative exchange, it calls for new knowledge to be generated and for different
perspectives to compete regarding the collective imagination and the changes expected
in history from daily life. (Uranga, 2016, p.18, translated)
The main problem at present is not technology in a strict sense. Nor is it its
reach and technical possibilities. The problem lies in how we perceive and
construct TDA as a means of encouraging new social practices and rela-
tions. The challenge is to address the social problems of each region and to
include new social actors in order to improve the quality of life of
every citizen.
In conclusion, television was not originally conceived as an agent for
social development. It was conceived as an information and entertainment
device. Thus, it must be reconfigured; new strategies and solutions to
current problems have to be designed. It is not a simple task. However, it is
not impossible. New modes of use can be generated to help producers and
users reinvent content and use television in new ways. In other words, the
challenge lies in rethinking TDA’s social, cultural, educational, and politi-

cal uses and functions in order to incorporate it as an effective social agent.
In this way it can further social inclusion and development strategies, spil-
ling over into multiple other domains such as education, health, housing,
and energy.
NOTES
1. The DTT scenario is similar to what happened decades ago with analogue
television standards: Germany created the PAL standard, the United States created
the NTSC standard, and France created SECAM standard. Latin America,
Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay adopted the European standard, PAL (using
the PAL-N variant). Brazil chose the PAL-M variant. The rest of the countries in
the region opted for the US’s NTSC standard.
2. For readers who are unaware of the subject matter: “Technically, TDA
Argentina is: the ensemble of technologies for the generation, transmission and
reception of sound and image through digital information (what is known as bits or
zeros and ones). This allows for flaws in transmission and reception to be corrected
and, as a result, the screen is free of interferences and distortions, generating a
sound and image quality superior to that of analogue television (current television)
in any television set with a Digital TV receptor” (Comunidad Digital Website:
http://www.comunidaddigital.com.ar/).
3. The National Survey of Cultural Consumption is available online at http://
www.sinca.gob.ar/sic/publicaciones/libros/EECC.pdf
4. For several reasons, this theory is not widely known or applied (except for
some international authors, like Pablo Boczkowski or Hernán Galperı́n) in the com-
munications field in studies regarding mass communication media, the functioning
of diverse digital technologies, and the usage practices constructed by users.
Perhaps this is due to the fact that this theory is more commonly used in the field of
science, technology, and society.
5. It is necessary to remember that epistemology studies the nature of knowl-
edge, the mechanisms through which knowledge is justified or invalidated, and the
identification of the assumptions that come into play when justifying the scientific
construction of knowledge. Epistemology considers social, historical, cultural, and
ideological factors. It provides the tools to think about how knowledge about tech-
nology is being created, which factors are at stake, the views that are built around
it, the ways in which it functions, and its effects on society.
6. Although it is common to consider technology as a synonym of information
technology, it is not. Information technology, also known as computer science, is a
field concerned with the techniques, methods and processes related to the storage,
processing, identification, and transmission of digital information. It is a specific
field of technological development that has made significant advances and continues
to do so, but this does not mean that it can be considered as a synonym
of technology.
7. Determination is a key factor in this perspective. In others words, there is an

underlying structure of linear thinking which considers technological changes in
terms of cause and effect: the vision of technology is determined by a factor that
determines the emergence of other factors. For technological or social determinism,
technology and human actions by themselves have the power to determine present
and future actions. In determinist analyses, there is no place for chance, the subject
is not given an active role as producer of actions or generator of change; power rela-
tions, historical processes, and other factors relative to the sociocultural scheme,
such as public policies, are not considered.
8. For those interested in the subject, a complete copy of the law can be found
in the following link: http://www.infoleg.gov.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/155000-
159999/158649/norma.htm
9. The Polos Program shows that the contests organized by government institu-
tions are more focused on the production of fiction than on the design, production
and implementation of programs to solve local problems or to develop communica-
tion actions for social inclusion with other social actors.
10. In that regard, the document elaborated by CERLALC: Nueva agenda por el
libro y la lectura: recomendaciones para polı́ticas públicas en Iberoamérica, includes
relevant data and ideas to think about public policies for communication. The
document is available at http://cerlalc.org/pdf/home_pdf/nueva_agenda.pdf
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Translation by Gala Sanchez.
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Communication and Information Technologies Annual

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PUBLIC POLICIES AND SOCIAL

Soledad Analı́a Ayala and Marı́a Cecilia Vila

Purpose The present paper analyzes the implementation of Open

Communication and Information Technologies Annual: Digital Empowerment:

cultural, political, social, economic, scientific, and technological factors.

conception and design of public policies to their implementation, but

be seen in relation to both the role of television as a medium for social

inspired by a sociotechnical theoretical perspective (Bijker, 1995; Collins,

tions of higher education in Argentina.

outreach programs, small political parties, social organizations, among others)

facilitates their regulation from a Human Rights standpoint.

technological shutdown by 2019. Prior to the creation of the SATVD-T,

company, ARSAT. It also promoted the production of audiovisual content

federalization. This was an unprecedented event in the history of Argentina’s

• How can a mass communication medium be used as an agent for social

• How should goals, production of content and user interactions be con-

• How can public policies of communication identify each region’s necessi-

promoting and elaborating an inclusive approach to technology, espe-

WHAT IS THE SOCIOTECHNICAL PERSPECTIVE?

One of the main contributions of this paper is to analyze TDA from a

This perspective implies thinking of TDA as a technology which cannot be

Where TDA is deployed as a technological agent promoting social inclu-

ABOUT TDA: BEGINNINGS AND CURRENT STATE

The invention of television was no single event or series of events. It depended on a

Television services have become increasingly complex; their social, political,

of interactivity are some of the many aspects of this development process.

As a unit charged with the implementation of the DTT platform, ARSAT

As with any technology in its first stages, the sociotechnical potential of

TDA AND SOCIAL INCLUSION: A COMBINATION

institutional strategies for the production and implementation of ICT and

want to find how it can be applied in advancing sustainable and inclusive

Regarding the first insight, Dr. Martı́n Becerra explains:

In theory, anyone with a converter has access to digital television.

Regarding the current state of production of educational content and the

AFSA annual report allows us to highlight that content categorized as ‘Kids’

to create a public service campaign, to foster literacy or to prevent a disease

Citizenship can be constructed through the production of entertainment

SOME CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS

have become increasingly sophisticated in a context of technological con-

Due to the recent changes in the political landscape, it has become

conception of forms of mass communication and utilize communication

oriented toward social inclusion. We have to consider it as an agent for the

challenge lies in rethinking TDA’s social, cultural, educational, and politi-

7. Determination is a key factor in this perspective. In others words, there is an

Alfonso, A. (2014). Televisión digital abierta en Argentina en debate. In A. Nicolosi (Ed.), La

diagnóstico y perspectiva (pp. 193 221). Quito: CIESPAL.

Decree n.° 1148/2009. (2009). Información Legislativa. Ministerio de Justicia y Derechos

socio-técnico de un artefacto anti-copia de Sony-BMG. Espacios, 28(3), 5 30.

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