driving social change with digital inclusion: why & how (june 2013)

Section Divider: Heading intro here.

Delivering social inclusion through digital inclusion

Helen Milner

Chief Executive, Online Centres Foundation

5 June 2013

Why care about digital inclusion?

• Social Justice– Equality, improving lives– Attainment for children, employment, saving

money (individuals), social isolation• Economic Growth

– Welfare Reform moving online– Digital by default & Supporting channel shift– Helping people be more employable– Building new and better digital businesses

UK online centres users lives – before and after

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

I do not feel concerned about my levels of qualifications ,training or skills

n=75

I do not feel concerned about my work position

n=51

I do not feel concerned aboutmy health

n=75

I felt part of my local community

I communicated as much as I would have liked

with my family

I communicated as muchas I would like to with friends

"Yes" Before "Yes" After

“Does the internet improve lives?” Freshminds April, 2009

Communicate more

Feel more connected to local community

Feel less concernedabout skills, workand health

Comparison before and after using the internet

Who is excluded• 18% of adults have never been online

(ONS)• 21% are not regular internet users (BBC),

meaning that 1 in 5 do not use the internet. Of those:• 71% are in social group C2DE• 51% aged over 65• 50% have no qualifications

2012 data

Interested in the Nevers and the Littles

Nevers – Never been on the webLittles – People who use it

infrequently or for limited uses

Age & number of activities

Ofcom Internet use and attitudes 2012

Socio-economic group & activities

Data source: Ofcom Internet use & attitudes 2012

15%19%

35%

50%47%

34%

Ofcom Internet use and attitudes 2012

Local community organisations

Leadership, products, services & support from OCF

1 million people learning

1m people learning & getting online* UK online centres: April 2010 – July 2012

Increasing participation: Who is getting supported in UK online centres?

User survey results January 2013

Socially Excluded 83% Receiving any benefits

57%

Unemployed 47% Educated below level 2

50%

Household income <£9,999

28% Disabled 29%

Aged 65+ 16% Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic Groups

16%

What do they now do?Progression survey results January 2013

Any positive outcomes 96%Progression to employment/employment activities

65%

Voluntary work 11%Move from unemployed to employed 8%Did further learning 50%Did more hobbies 46%Used Government websites 73%Feel more confident going online 93%Overall satisfaction with support given 99%

Key social outcomes

• Happier• More confident• More skilled• More connected to family, friends, and local

community• Help people to find work• Help people who are in poor health• Help people who are homeless• Help people to help others

Clive: Employment• Clive was made redundant at 56.

He has now found work• One unemployed person costs

the government £8,000 a year• 8% of 1m UK online centres

helped got a job = 80,000 people• 80,000 people @ £8,000 each =

£640m a year

£640m a year

Roger: Homelessness• Roger was homeless for ten years

and is now working and helping others

• 2% of UK online centres’ users are homeless = 20,000 of the 1m

• Homelessness costs Government £26,000 a year

• If all 20,000 moved to homed = £520m in a year

£520m a year

Norah: Health• Since getting online 78 year old Norah

has lost weight and her diabetes has much improved

• By getting online and reducing her symptoms, Norah alone will be saving the NHS at least £5,000 a year for the rest of her life

• If just 1% of UK diabetes sufferers were similar to Norah, saving = £145m a year

• Norah has also improved to her arthritis and high blood pressure

• …. and can now play the ukulele £145ma year

Cheryl: Volunteering• Cheryl had been out of work for 15

years and she began learning at her local UK online centre

• Since then, she has supported hundreds of people to do more online

• Volunteering provides a value of £18 billion to the UK economy each year, each volunteer provides a value of £1,100

• 25,000 volunteers in the UK online centres network who contribute £27.5m a year

£27.5m a year

Need action in all of these areas

National products and support + Hyperlocal action

Top down national programme, integrated products & support

Bottom up community action and innovation

Digital & Social impact on people’s lives

5000 hyper-local UK online centres and access points

Centre search and free phone number search www.ukonlinecentres.com/centresearch or 0800 77 1234

No such thing as a typical centre.All centres do something else (and support digital skills).Most centre partners run outreach sessions in care homes, pubs, clubs, village halls, mosques, churches, social housing, et al

Networks within the network• OCF provides tailored support for local centres who

specialise on helping certain groups of people who have specific needs. Four specialist networks:– Into Work (to help unemployed people)– Disabled People’s network– Older People’s network– Carer’s Network (to support people caring for others)

• Community Capacity Builders are local hubs that OCF helps to develop the digital inclusion support activity of other local organisations – both to engage hard-to-reach people

Free online courses for digital inclusion, financial inclusion and employability - www.learnmyway.com

Optimised for mobile learning

Also supporting the capability and capacity of community organisationswww.communityhowto.com

BUT, it’s all about a shared goal and dialogue

• Centres do not pay OCF to be part of the network• We (the centres and OCF) have a common vision

and a common goal to reduce digital exclusion• The thing the centres value the most is ‘feeling

part of a network’• We talk to centres on the telephone every day,

reaching around over 300 every week• It’s about behaviour change not about

technology

We do know how to tackle digital inclusion: it’s all about people Getting the people who need support to the people who want to support them

Please get in touch

helen@ukonlinecentres.com@helenmilner on twitterwww.ukonlinecentres.comwww.learnmyway.comwww.communityhowto.com