How the digital divide is being tackled

Digital exclusion is a social care issue, whether it's ordering prescriptions, applying for benefits or simply talking to others. So what is being done to help more people get online?
Carlton Gaskin at one of Age UK's Itea and biscuits event
Carlton Gaskin at one of Age UK's Itea and biscuits event, aimed at getting more older people using technology. PR

In 2008, 84-year-old Margaret Rickson had never used a computer before, but within three weeks of picking up a laptop she became the first patient to ask for a repeat prescription online. After enrolling for a computer course at her local library in Cheshire, Rickson has become an active campaigner in the local community, promoting the benefits of online services.

This week is Get online week. Organised by the Online Centres Foundation, which provides a national network of UK online centres, the aim is to get some of the approximately eight million people in the UK who have never used the internet online to "help make their lives bigger and better". Margaret Rickson is just the type of person whom the Online Centres Foundation would champion as an ambassador for the advantages of accessing digital services.

The benefits of getting online are even greater than ever. In April a new universal credit will be introduced replacing many current benefits – and the government wants 80% of applications for universal credit to be online by 2017. Those not online can lose out financially, by not being able to access goods that can be found cheaper than in shops, and socially, without contact with others though email and social networking sites.

Between 75% and 90% of jobs require at least some computer use, and home access to a computer and the internet can improve children's educational performance. (If the 1.6 million children who live in families that do not use the internet got online at home, it could boost their total lifetime earnings by more than £10 bn).

National champion for digital inclusion Martha Lane Fox put forward the economic case for digital inclusion in a report in 2009. It found that 62% of the adults who had never accessed the internet were over the age of 65; 51% of those with only basic secondary school education were digitally excluded; and more digitally excluded adults needed more frequent contact with public services.

It also found that if all digitally excluded adults got online and made just one digital contact each month instead of using another channel, this would save an estimated £900m a year.

Since then, there has been growing awareness that more people need to be online. Campaigns such as Get Online Week and Age UK's Itea and biscuits week have raised the profile of digital inclusion and are gaining momentum.

In South Yorkshire, local councils, colleges and organisations have worked together to produce the Making IT personal: joining the Dots programme – bringing together people who want to share their knowledge with others who need help with digital skills. Eleanor Dearle, regional strategy officer at Barnsley Metropolitan Council, explained that the council found the biggest barriers to getting online were a lack of understanding about the internet, a belief that it wasn't relevant, and a fear of breaking it.

"We didn't just say 'you should be digitally enabled'," Dearle explains. "It's about fitting technology in around what they do in their own lives." The programme encouraged digital outreach trainers, or dots, to help address these issues, working from what the individuals needed to do. People who benefited from the mentoring programme often went on to become dots themselves, says Dearle. The programme celebrated its 600th "dot" in July.

For those involved with the programme, the benefits are more than just technological. The mother of one "dot" with a disability explains: "For him, [it] isn't college work – it's given him a lot of confidence."

Clare O'Driscoll, campaigns officer at Age UK Camden, echoes this sentiment. The local charity runs 10-week basic courses to help older people understand and use technology more. O' Driscoll says its biggest achievement is the pride and confidence older people gain from the course. In addition to drop-in centres and advanced courses on using technology such as Skype, Age UK Camden also offers an information, advice and advocacy service.

"More and more services are online," says Driscoll. "People are coming to us not just because they want to understand the internet, but because they have to. NHS services such as repeat prescription ordering can be done online, as well as applications for benefits. But seeing a grandparent able to watch her granddaughter walk for the first time via Skype is incredibly moving and important too."

She adds: "It's great when something clicks and people gain confidence through understanding. We take for granted some of the things we know about technology, but older people say to me: 'What's Wi-Fi? I keep hearing about it.' They can feel excluded from everyday life by not knowing what it means. By giving them the tools to feel part of society, they feel included in everyday life."
