Digital poverty matters. People need data, devices and digital skills to function in the most basic way in our increasingly digital world. But …
- 1 in 5 children home-schooling during the pandemic didn’t have a lap top to work on
- 2.5 million people are behind on their broadband bills.
- 20 million people (38% of us) gave “low” or “very low” digital skills.
We want to do whatever we can to end this digital divide.
In the background to today, the Digital Poverty Alliance has convened an alliance of organisations committed to work together to tackle digital poverty, and we support their National Delivery Plan, which is a clear, evidence-based road-map - something that is all the more welcome at a time when the Government lacks a credible strategy to tackle digital inclusion.
Mission One on the roadmap is to increase awareness about the need for sustainable and strategic action to end digital poverty, with an emphasis on businesses in particular.
We believe businesses have huge potential to support digital inclusion and the development of essential digital skills - whether that is focussed on upskilling customers, colleagues or the wider community. With our corporate clients, we have co-created courses and learning pathways that raise awareness of the problem, galvanise staff to make a difference, and result in CSR programmes that deliver genuine impact.
That’s why we're particularly pleased to see so many our corporate clients taking action today, highlighting awareness across their organisations, whether that’s through training sessions for staff volunteers, briefings for senior stakeholders or coming along to contribute to the events.
We hope the day is a huge success and the first step towards real change!