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Include everyone

Digital inclusion is about ensuring the benefits of the internet and digital technologies are available to everyone

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Contents

Digital inclusion is about ensuring the benefits of the internet and digital technologies are available to everyone

DescriptionRationaleImplicationsTools / Methods / ResourcesMaturity / Check List

Description

Digital inclusion is about ensuring the benefits of the internet and digital technologies are available to everyone

inset-text

Digital inclusion, or rather, reducing digital exclusion, is about making sure that people have the capability to use the internet to do things that benefit them day to day – whether they be individuals, SMEs or VCSE organisations.

Digital inclusion is often defined in terms of:

  • Digital skills – being able to use computers and the internet. This is important, but a lack of digital skills is not necessarily the only, or the biggest, barrier people face.
  • Connectivity – and access to the internet. People need the right infrastructure but that is only the start.
  • Accessibility – services should be designed to meet all users’ needs, including those dependent on assistive technology to access digital services. Accessibility is a barrier for many people, but digital inclusion is broader.

Digital inclusion is about overcoming all of these challenges, not just one. Equally, with so many challenges, government cannot address digital exclusion alone.

Gov.uk Government Digital Inclusion Strategy

Rationale

Customers expect us to offer a number of different transacting options, such as face-to-face, telephony and digital.

The cost per transaction of each of these differs greatly, with the cheapest being digital, and specifically, self-serve digital. However, the reality of the situation is that there is a large proportion of our customers who for varying reason like, accessibility, cost, confidence, or lack of know-how, do not transact digitally.

Despite all of the advantages of digital, we know that we will not achieve a 100% channel shift towards digital functionality and so must leave behind some legacy systems and processes to enable to enable our less digitally comfortable and confident customers to still interact with our services.

However, every effort will be made to encourage and promote the benefits of being more digitally capable, and the health and wellbeing benefits of being digitally active.

Geographically, we should also be exploring opportunities to deliver digital services in a number of location for our customers, working with local communities to shape delivery and to tailor to customers’ needs.

Implications

Digital Inclusion can be applied to:

  • Digital Customer
    • Developing digital skills, confidence and knowledge in our customers.
  • Digital Council
    • Culture, innovation, implementation of easy-to-use digital functions.
  • Digital Place
    • Accessibility, connectivity
  • Digital Care
    • Integrated telecare systems, switch from analogue to digital

Tools / Methods / Resources

  • Benchmarking digital skill (audit)
  • Digital interactions
  • Self-service activity
  • H2HY
  • Inclusion delivery plan
  • Objectives, goals
  • Geographical data
  • Customer insight
  • Stakeholder engagement

Maturity / Check List

  • Are we leaving customers behind as we transition to a new digital authority?
  • Are we increasing the digital skill and confidence of our workforce?
  • How can we positively influence the Broadband infrastructure in Somerset to benefit the hard to reach?

Last reviewed: July 14, 2023 by James

Next review due: January 14, 2024

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