Digital Inclusion Report for UK Online Centres

In September 2006, the Cabinet Office launched its Social Exclusion Action Plan. The plan set out the actions to be taken across government to improve the life chances of those caught in a cycle of social, financial, and aspirational disadvantage. Also announced in the plan was a 1632 million grant for UK online centres, funded by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) and the Learning and Skills Council (LSC).

The Social Impact Demonstrator grants were for UK online centre-led projects working in partnership with other community organisations to reach socially disadvantaged people and engage them in ICT activities. The projects test the hypothesis that becoming competent and confident in using computers increases personal and social confidence and reduces social exclusion. They also establish models of best practice for finding, motivating and progressing some of the hardest to reach groups in society. These were identified as families in poverty, older people, those supporting children in care, teenage parents and those at risk of pregnancy, and adults with mental health issues.

The 20 projects were picked by a panel of judges, including representatives from the public, private and voluntary sectors. They were looking for innovation in both engagement strategies and the use of ICT, strong and relevant community partnerships, and quality, not just quantity, of participation.

More than 150 UK online centres were involved in delivering the 20 Social Impact Demonstrator projects, which ran for up to fifteen months from January 2007 to March 2008. The nature of the different projects was intentionally varied, but all were designed to get people online for the first time and help them learn new skills, connect with their communities and interact with public services. Models included outreach initiatives, home access pilots and home delivery, group sessions and one-to-one tuition. All the projects collected data about their visitors and programmes, using a research structure designed by Ipsos.

This report brings together those research findings with qualitative evidence from each project, and some more in-depth insights into the findings and experiences of individual projects.