Groups and Committees

Over the last 18 months there have been many changes in the e-inclusion landscape, creating new trends and opportunities for the ICT industry. 

The business case for action around the digital divide is maturing. For the most difficult to reach in society, there is a clear case to use information technology to build social capacity and to help people help themselves; thus reducing their burden on the state and the communities they live in. At the more accessible end of spectrum of the digitally excluded, e.g. the elderly, there is an underdeveloped market for innovative, industry led solutions. Many digitally disengaged are not financially excluded and just need to be persuaded that ICT is not an end itself, but is a means to end. It is a pathway to help them pursue their interests or to support them in their daily lives. If ICT is made relevant to people’s family and community context then they are much more likely to adopt it.

Social inclusion is once again a high government priority. A new social exclusion action plan has been published and a cabinet office task force created to deliver the plan. The agenda is being governed by a new ministerial committee and ICT has significant potential to help deliver against objectives. Responsibility for tackling location based deprivation remains with the Department for Communities and Local Government, which is running the Digital Challenge competition to create an exemplar digital city. This programme is well underway and being run in partnership with industry.

The transformational government strategy has been published and has real potential to deliver more joined-up and effective services for the disadvantaged. A new ministerial committee, MISC31, has been created to take forward the data sharing components of the strategy. At an EU level e-inclusion has been firmly positioned on the political landscape this year, with member states signing up to goals embedded in the i2010 strategy.

The pace of technological change has been equally rapid over the past 18 months with the emergence of WiFi clouds across cities, maturing of standards, mainstreaming of voice over IP, new emerging social applications of RFID and the increased sophistication of telecare technologies. Many of these technologies provide exciting opportunities for supporting the most disadvantaged in society and building community capacity, so that deprived communities can solve their most pressing problems themselves. Industry is increasingly engaged in the social agenda. Intellect and its members are involved in many initiatives to further social inclusion, for example the Digital Strategy, Digital Challenge, digital switchover, Women in IT, broadband access and media literacy to name a few. 

Legislative developments place new legal obligations on public and private sector service providers and add teeth to the digital inclusion agenda in a way that has not yet been fully explored. Developments over last 18 months around the Disability Discrimination Act, the Race Relations Act, the Equality Act, the Human Rights Act and new legislation around age discrimination – all potentially change the e-inclusion landscape.

In addition to the rapid pace of change there are historic large-scale initiatives underway, such as the Digital Switch Over Targeted Help scheme. This initiative alone will affect over 6 million people over the age of 75 and the most severely disabled across the UK. Similarly, the large-scale telecare pilots, the DfES PC for Pupils scheme and the Digital Challenge are key initiatives that represent major opportunities to make a lasting impact on the digital divide, and more importantly improve the lives and life chances of the most disadvantaged in society.

Against this backdrop, now is a good time to reassess the digital inclusion landscape. The e-inclusion agenda is critically important for the social and economic future of the UK. There is a clear opportunity to create a structured and concerted effort for stakeholders to work together and create positive action on this agenda. It is critical to take stock of the many successful e-inclusion initiatives and to identify the gaps, and the priorities over the next two years that will help to deliver the objective of the UK being the first country to close the digital divide.

ICT and Digital Inclusion:
Intellect Workshop 21 November 2006 more»