4. Internet use as % of population Source: World Internet User Statistics June 2009
5. Finland first to declare broadband internet access a human right 100Mb to all Finnish residents by 2015 Source: Guardian.co.uk 14 October 2009
6.
7. If all UK digitally excluded adults got online and made one digital contact each month, this would save the Government £900 million per year PwC & Martha Lane Fox “ The Economic Case for Digital Inclusion” www.raceonline.org/resources October 2009
8. Smarter Government (December 2009) £30m for UK online centres over 3 years to get 1 million more people online – 75% going to grassroots
Last year’s presentation “The Evidence” got 5000 views and 100 downloads on slideshare – that shows that a lot of people are really hungry for the evidence to prove digital inclusion is an important issue.
In just three years we’ve moved from 1 in 3 offline to 1 in 5, we’ve done well but we need to keep working hard to get 100% of the UK population enjoying the benefits of the internet
World Internet User Stats from June 2009 show we’ve moved up the league table, we’re now with the big players (with smaller populations) of Sweden, Finland and Denmark. Also equivalent to Australia, and ahead of the middle of the pack Spain, France, Germany and the US.
We might not yet be really part of league one, as they move ahead with bold equality policies such as declaring broadband internet access a human right
In the conference promotional material Matthew Taylor said it looked like digital inclusion had hit the proverbial big time. And what a year we’ve had … Including the Social Housing Providers Digital Inclusion Action Plan – prepared by the Social Housing and Digital Inclusion Strategy Group announced at last year’s conference by Baroness Kay Andrews
In October Martha Lane Fox and PWC produced an excellent document “The Economic Case for Digital Inclusion” which looked at the digital dividend if more people could get online. For example the poorest households can save almost £300 a year by being online and the Government could save £900m a year if all the digital excluded just made one contact a month online
This argument was then picked up by the prime minister and led to UK online centres being awarded £30m to an additional 1m people online over the next three years with 75% of the money going to the grassroots
What am I excited about in 2010? Let’s put some government services 100% online so that we can really shift our mindset for what that means. We can then together put in place an appropriate safety net to pick up the digital excluded – who for whatever reason can’t or won’t go online without our help
This event is about the people who we can get online to reap the benefits of the internet. Like Paul 47, from Birmingham had been made redundant twice, and feared he would never be employed again. He had never used a computer nor the internet before. After going to his local UK online centre, he started myguide courses and was able to put his new skills on his CV which allowed him to get a new job at Jaguar
And let’s not forget the people who providing that helping hand to help people to use the internet for the first time. Glen (on the right) with his tutor and supporter (Peter) on the left – having completed the Bristol 10km. Glen has OCD and rarely went out before he came to Windmill Hill City Farm UK online centre. Glen’s journey has taken five years, Glen is now Passing IT on – as a volunteer tutor in his UK online centre.
Take our knowledge of the digitally excluded and apply it to achieve digital inclusion. The approach is the equivalent of customer insight that commercial companies do to support product development and marketing. In the commercial world this is hidden away and protected but we want to share it and shout about it. In order to eliminate digital exclusion we need to pool our expertise and resource.http://www.ukonlinecentres.com
600 delegates this year – increased interest political support, more money, Martha’s passion and commitment. No hangers on, everyone in this room (and watching on the web) need to work together. In order to get 1m people online is a huge challenge, to get 4m socially and digitally included online is a huge challenge, to get 7.5m online by 2014 is a huge challenge. We can only do it by working together. So this year WILL be a year of collaboration, of working together, so many partners, too many to mention. Working together to Pass IT On. Bringing about collective action – public, private and third sectors – to attach exclusion on multiple levels, in every community, so we can be a 100% online nation.