Funding

We partnered with 100% Digital Leeds at Leeds City Council to win funding from the UK Government's Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Activities

Many people in the UK lack internet access and basic digital skills, meaning they’re unable to access vital services.

This problem has been with us for years, but the Covid-19 pandemic made it more visible and acute.

We teamed up with Leeds City Council and Croydon Council to create a “toolkit” of the best digital inclusion advice. It’s primarily aimed at UK councils, as they’re often the lead organisation for digital inclusion activity in their area.

The Digital Inclusion Toolkit includes advice on setting up a digital inclusion programme, finding funding, understanding user needs and more besides. We’re adding new advice all the time, and welcome submissions from all.

Learnings

In October 2019, our team published user research findings after speaking to councils, healthcare professionals and third sector organisations. Here’s a blog post and the full research.

Until then, we had tried to publish useful material for all these groups. We decided to focus on councils, and specifically on their most common needs.

Many of them were starting out on their digital inclusion journey, and needed practical tips to identify people in their area most in need. They need help to write a business case to win funding, and guidance on creating a digital inclusion team from scratch. Here’s advice on all of these subjects.

We also found that needs are broadly similar from one council to another, and that most were working on programmes in isolation. The Digital Inclusion Toolkit can help bring councils together to solve common problems, and not reinvent the wheel.

We expect the Digital Inclusion Toolkit to continue well into the future. As council digital inclusion programmes mature, our team will always be there, providing up to date practical advice for all to use.