Why does digital inclusion matter?

More and more services in our country are moving to online only and some people are being left behind and becoming excluded. You can find lots of up-to-date facts, stats and reports here.

A digital welfare state is emerging.
The impact on the human rights of the most vulnerable in the UK will be immense.
Professor Philip Alston, United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, 2018

Digital inclusion is directly linked to wellbeing, as shown by Carnegie UK

List of wellbeing outcomes of healthy lifestyles; employment; education; saving money; access to services; social connections; civic engagement; culture and creativity. Arrows to show they are effected by digital participation and together they impact on social, economic and environmental outcomes for people

“The opportunity to connect becomes meaningful when it extends your well being, your rights, your benefits, and gives you power to do things”
Nnenna Nwakanma, Policy Director of The Web Foundation

Here is a video about why digital inclusion is so important and what the barriers are for certain groups of people.

Everyone gains from Digital Inclusion projects!

Image: Graphic of quotes about benefit to economy, learners and digital champions

Here is a video interviewing several learners about what they have gained from learning new digital skills.

Here’s a more in-depth video with one learner, Tracey Binnie, talking about what she has learned and the impact it has had on her.

However, there are three main barriers to Digital Inclusion and participation which projects must try to overcome.

Graphic: The three main barriers to Digital Inclusion and participation are lack of skills, access or motivation.

The work of the One Digital partnership has shown that the best way to overcome these barriers is by using Digital Champions.