Everybody online?

By Lasa Information Systems Team

There has been much talk in recent years about digital inclusion (or exclusion depending on your viewpoint). Various initiatives are either in place or forthcoming, to ensure that every adult in the UK has access to the benefits of the internet and “digital” technologies generally. Here we look at a snapshot of the landscape mid 2012 and what it means for third sector organisations, many of which serve the very people least able to get online.

Go On!

In 2010, the Government’s Digital Champion Martha Lane Fox set Race Online 2012 the ambitious goal of getting 1.5 million new people to go online. By the time its successor, Go ON UK officially launched on 23 April 2012, and with the help of a network of partners, there were “1.9 million people in the UK new to life online since 2009 ¹. 8.1 million still to go!”

Go ON UK, a “radical new cross-sector partnership” has the equally ambitious goal to get the remaining 8 million adult Brits that still have not been online to do so by 2020. Four million of this remaining group are amongst the most disadvantaged groups in our society. Lasa attended a round table with a number of other charities before the Go On UK launch and we’re keen to remain involved to ensure that the initiative stays relevant to our sector.

Internet First

As part of the Race Online 2012 initiative, Martha Lane Fox also challenged the UK Government to go “digital by default”. That is, to think “internet first” and to use digital as the main channel for delivering information and services.

At an Inside Government “Internet of Things” (IOT) conference in May 2012, Sharon Cooper, Director of Strategy and Innovation Government Digital Services described the changes that were taking place in response to this challenge (pdf, 2.55Mb). She spoke of the great strides being made to transform DirectGov into Gov.UK, a website that is much more user-friendly. It aims to rationalise the plethora of government websites that exist and give citizens access to the information that they need, when they need it.

Undoubtedly, huge efficiencies can be gained and much money saved by delivering information and services digitally. At Lasa, we support the sentiment behind initiatives that get more charities using technology appropriately and more effectively. So we’re pleased to see that organisations as well as individuals have been recognised in the Go ON UK agenda as needing support to get online, and see ourselves as part of the picture in providing that support.

Extending the challenge

Martha Lane Fox isn’t just challenging government either. At Lasa's technology conference (and through Go ON UK), she has thrown our sector the “every charity digital” challenge to go “digital by default” and think creatively about how we can do this. That’s why we’re starting to try and work much more closely with Charity Technology Trust and iT4Communities to make this happen.

And it doesn’t stop there. Small and Medium Enterprises are recognised as needing support around getting online, so it’s not just the government and the charity sector that are challenged to do more digitally. The NCVO CEO Sir Stuart Etherington, in a Civil Society Q and A on 16 May 2012 , predicted the future of capacity building as veering towards more online peer-to-peer learning as the economy bites. This supports that notion that we need to work across sectors and share experience and learning, if the digital by default agenda is to succeed.

No one left behind

Whilst Lasa supports the idea of thinking digital first, we also recognise it is important for us and other charities who work with the most disadvantaged groups in society not to exacerbate the problem of digital exclusion. We all need to accept that digital cannot be the only channel for delivering information and services and there is plenty of evidence to support this view. Further, we must accept the need to address a more fundamental issue that many smaller organisations in particular don’t have the equipment or technical support, or policies and strategies, in place to allow them to access digital services reliably themselves, let alone deliver them.

However, we believe that despite this, using technology appropriately ourselves to help our organisations become more effective and efficient, allows us to target our limited resources more effectively at those we are trying to help. Delivering more of our services digitally has the potential for those who can, to consume services in this way, in order to free up resources for those who can’t. The Low Income Tax Reform Group report on Digital Exclusion (pdf, 2.7Mb) highlighted the prevalence of “digital exclusion” amongst charity and SME organisations. They recommend an inclusive and non-mandatory approach to “digital by default”.

80:20

Martha Lane Fox’s challenges and the other initiatives pursued by government accept that no one should be left behind in the race to deliver services digitally. Talking at the IOT conference, Sharon Cooper highlighted that 80% of online services are used by 20% of people, and that the people who most need to access services such as the Department for Work and Pensions are those that are the most digitally excluded. The challenge is to meet the needs of this section of the population, particularly older people, who are the worst affected.

The government is looking at how this can be done through libraries and job centres. It is important that this provides not just internet access but crucially, access to other people who can help. Yet, we also need to consider the needs of many people who cannot get out to these places. We must look to find ways of taking services to them or otherwise helping them to access services so they are not further disadvantaged. This is backed up by research commissioned by the Welsh Government that shows that giving people access to computers is not enough.

Similarly, in a Shelter policy briefing “Shifting channels: Housing advice and the growth of digitisation”, it is reported:

“An analysis of Shelter’s own web services reveals that we have more visits from those less likely to be vulnerable. This suggests that rather than shifting clients from one channel to another, we may be simply reaching into a new audience. As such, this may even be increasing the demand for face to face services, rather than reducing it. Shelter believes that a multi-channel approach will be needed beyond the short term.”

Going mobile

An April 2012 report by Pew Internet highlights the digital differences in the US, but points to the rise in the ownership and use of mobile and smart phones to access the internet via wireless connections, particularly amongst young adults. This is a change our sector will need to respond to, for example by ensuring services delivered through our websites can be accessed in a “platform independent” way, i.e. on any device.

Mobile also gives us the opportunity to “take the internet” to those who cannot get out to libraries and other places where access and help to access digital services is available. However, as the Pew report also highlights, 31% of Americans at least are “just not interested” in using the internet, and the reason given by the 35% of people who don’t have broadband access at home  is that prices must fall. Statistics that may well be reflected in the UK.

Bright spots

Of course it’s not all bad news in the world of charities’ use of technology to “do things better and do better things”. Although broadband coverage is an acknowledged issue, progress is being made in this area. At the IOT conference, Steve Unger, Ofcom’s Group Director for Strategy, reported that 90% of the UK is on target to have speeds of at least 2MBps by 2015 (more information about progress in Steve’s presentation (pdf, 532Kb)).

Leading the way

Additionally, charities are acknowledged leaders in some areas, for example, the creative use of low cost social media tools. Sites like Lasa’s rightsnet website have won prestigious awards, including the Nominet Internet Awards 2011 and the revenuebenefits website won the Technological Innovation award at the LexisNexis Taxation Awards 2012.

The rightsnet website is an advice and information support service for frontline advice workers working with some of the most marginalised and disadvantaged communities across the UK. It provides thousands of frontline organisations - including Citizens Advice Bureaux, law centres and local authorities - with daily updates on the latest developments in social welfare law, and facilitates the sharing of experience and expertise between advisers via a series of peer-to-peer discussion forums.

Technology4Good  and other charity awards have also recognised the great work that is being done by many organisations. Past recipients of the their awards include the Pennies Foundation who launched Pennies – The electronic charity box - a service which allows consumers to donate the few pence of their ‘electronic’ change when they pay for goods and services by card in-store or online. In the first few months, more than 440,000 consumer donations, totalling well over £100,000, had been received.

Other charities such as The Charity Service exist almost totally virtually and through their MyGift service enable smaller charities especially, to set up appeals, and collect funds securely online and integrate their appeals with their social media activity. Similarly, by thoughtful use of blogging and social media even the smallest of charities can extend their reach and garner support. Back in 2010, the Child’s i Foundation ran a successful campaign which raised £10,000 needed to give a child access to life saving care, in just 38 hours.

It’s not all about fundraising and social media either...

Youthnet, the UK’s first exclusively online charity guides and supports young people, “enabling them to make informed choices, participate in society and achieve their ambitions.” It does this through thesite.org – an online “guide to life” for 16-25 year olds - and Do-it a comprehensive volunteering website.

So there is much that is good out there, and charities are at the leading edge of some of it, but we can do more. We must continue to engage with and learn from each other, with future thinkers, with SMEs and the business sector generally to ensure we create the best tools, applications to support our sector to do what it does best whilst not leaving behind those that don’t yet have the means to fully embrace the digital world.

Got a nice example? Please share by signing in or registering to leave a comment.

1. Cap Gemini’s evaluation of the Race Online 2012 initiative (pdf, 1.85Mb) supports this statement, reporting that in 2009 when the Digital Champion was appointed, 10.2 million adults had never been online. By the end of 2011, that figure had fallen to 8.2 million↑