Sheffield United: How club's community foundation is bridging the digital divide: Greg Wright
In an age when our lives seem to revolve around smartphones, it’s worth remembering that the technological revolution hasn’t reached everyone. Digital exclusion has painful economic consequences.
Research suggests there are currently eight million adults in the UK who lack basic digital skills and 1.6 million who live offline altogether, preventing them from accessing government services online, managing their finances on their phone or searching for jobs.
They also face higher costs for home insurance, train travel and food, with people without internet access paying on average 25 per cent more than consumers who are online.
That’s why everyone who cares about social mobility must applaud the Government’s decision to support a fund which aims to provide thousands of consumers with free digital training to help them find cheaper deals online.
Some 80 schemes will have a share of the £11.7 million Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund to help the most vulnerable, from disadvantaged young people and the homeless to the elderly, get online with confidence as part of the “push to close the digital divide”.
Free support will help people book a doctor’s appointment on the NHS app, shop around for better deals on things such as home insurance and food, or stay in touch with loved ones.
Minister for Digital Inclusion Liz Lloyd said the Government is tearing down the barriers to success and “making the future work for all, not just the fortunate”.
Disadvantaged young people across the North and Midlands will use e-sports to learn new digital skills and develop safe online behaviours; more than 7,000 older people will learn how to use the NHS app to manage their health; and people experiencing homelessness will be able to access devices and data to get online to help them find accommodation and other essential services.
A project run by Age UK will help older people through events and skills sessions to learn how to use the NHS app.
Sheffield United’s Community Foundation will trial using e-sports video gaming to help 400 young people build digital skills and confidence, and raise awareness on being safe online. The Safe to Play project will adapt e-sports as a vehicle for digital inclusion in the existing football club charity’s youth programmes. Each club will deliver a six to eight week programme of weekly workshops and esports play sessions, combining practical digital learning for young people, within a safe environment.
Each organisation will report back on their project, with the findings used to work out what works best when it comes to helping people to get online. This will be used to shape digital inclusion initiatives across the country.
Anyone lacking digital skills is detached from the ebb and flow of modern life. They cannot access services others take for granted and may lack awareness of threats and opportunities.
The Government is wise to build its strategy from the ground up; community groups on the coal face are best placed to assess what works and what doesn’t. If the policy provides a template for an approach that reduces the UK’s digital divide it will certainly prove to be public money well spent.
Greg Wright is the deputy business editor of The Yorkshire Post