A Cognitive Analytics Management Framework for Developing an International Social Inclusion Index for Enhancing the Sustainable Development of Equal Opportunities in Society

Abstract

Social inclusion is regarded as a goal and process of enhancing the participation of all individuals, especially disadvantaged ones, in societal issues and decision-making processes. It has a positive and beneficial influence on several areas of a person’s life, such as his/her economic participation and mental health. Hence, to identify its influence, it is important to accurately gauge the various parts that constitute this concept. After reviewing a large amount of literature that has tried to measure social inclusion, we discovered that no efforts had been made yet to develop a comprehensive social inclusion index that applies to all countries. Therefore, the main value of this research lies in building a gold social inclusion standard measure that can be used across different countries. The index consists of eight dimensions, including quality education, innovation and technology, governmental policies and laws, transportation and infrastructure, employment and organizations, poverty and economic, medical and health, and communities and culture. After fulfilling the main mission of this paper, we analyzed the data of 16 OECD countries to identify the top five countries as well as the least-performing country in terms of achieving an inclusive society. This task was accomplished using Shannon Entropy for weight determination, along with one of the MCDM methodologies, namely WASPAS, for countries ranking. Regarding ranking, results indicate that the top five countries that correctly employed the concept of social inclusion in their societies in the period of 2014 and 2015 are Norway, followed by Ireland, France, Spain, and Sweden. However, the least-performing nation is Latvia in both studied years. Additionally, concerning weight determination, findings show that the most impactful dimension on the development of inclusive society is the “transportation and infrastructure” dimension in 2014, and the “quality education” dimension in 2015. Also, they emphasize that enrolling children in school, accessing broadband connection, fighting corruption in the public sector, being employed, attaining high GDP growth, decreasing homicide rate, and managing non-made imperfections that may lead to injuries or mortalities (like unsafe roads) are vital elements for the creation of a more inclusive society.