Confidence and Engagement: Expert Overview - August 2024

The lack of basic digital skills and the lack of a device or connectivity are tangible barriers that, with effort and resources, can be overcome. Lack of confidence and engagement are less tangible, and require cross-cutting interventions - reflecting also the links with digital exclusion barriers (access, skills, suitable support, service design).

Providing interventions to support people to develop basic digital skills, to provide free connectivity or devices, or to support people to use online services, are much needed. Yet their impact remains limited without compelling efforts to help excluded people to take interest and participate in the online world.

A number of people in the UK are offline due to motivational barriers. However when analysing the reasons given by non-users who don’t expect to be online in the next 12 months, Ofcom found 70% of people said they were not interested (2023). Research (e.g. Yates et al 2020) shows this masks other barriers (such as financial hardship, lack of reading and writing literacy, low learning confidence) - which people who are not internet users may not indicate when asked their reasons for not using the internet.

Confidence and motivation (and/or interest, trust, engagement) sit at the core of the ‘pointless triangle’ coined by Kat Dixon, during her Fellowship of the Data Poverty Lab: 

For a comprehensive overview of the main UK datasets on digital inclusion, see Digital Inclusion: What the main UK datasets tell us, a collaboration with Lloyds Banking Group, Nominet and the University of Liverpool.

The new Labour Government is mission-led, eradicating digital exclusion will lead to breaking down the barriers to opportunity - aligned closely with the Opportunities Mission. Ensuring we unlock the talents of all citizens will lead to improved Growth.

Inextricably linked with digital skills, confidence, trust, and safety are integral to getting (and staying) online. Fear of online harms, fraud, scams, as well as making mistakes and encountering misinformation are all reasons why some people do not feel safe nor confident online. Many do not trust the digital world and avoid going online, even where cost or geography is not a barrier. 

One million people with basic digital skills and access only use the internet in a limited way due to lack of trust. 21% of people (surveyed online) feel left behind by technology.

The Online Safety Act (2023) is a new set of laws designed to increase trust and confidence in digital platforms by imposing stricter regulations - mandating that technology companies take greater responsibility for their platforms’ content, aiming to reduce harmful and illegal material. The Act requires social media and other online services to have robust measures in place to protect users, particularly children, from online abuse and exploitation. By enforcing transparency and accountability, the Act seeks to foster a safer digital environment and in turn enhance public trust in online spaces. Additionally platforms could face significant penalties for non-compliance, ensuring that user safety becomes a priority.

Motivation to get online is one of many barriers to digital inclusion. Digital motivation draws on psychological and social reasoning which can be – at times – complex and  knotty to break apart. In 2019, Professor Simeon Yates worked with Good Things Foundation to explore the reason people were offline and explored motivational barriers. They identified four main groups of people in terms of the reasons and barriers they described for not being online:

• Believing the internet is not for them
• Feeling like they don’t have the right support or devices to use the internet
• Thinking the internet is too complicated
• Being unable to afford the internet.

It is significant to note that these four groups are not distinct - people may fall into more than one. They also do not tell the whole story (Yates, et al., 2019).

The report points to 'It's not for me' being the principal reason and barrier to being online. Non-digital users who stated the internet was not for them had no real need or purpose by which to go online, and did not see the personal benefit. As a result, they did not see how the internet could add value, and sometimes had an underlying fear of using it (Yates, et al., 2019).

In 2020, FutureDotNow published Building Digital Motives (2020) with Oliver Wyman, revealing that motivation was holding learners back from the chance to improve their digital skills. Their work pointed to excluding language; the involvement (or lack thereof) of the end-user in digital skills training, and the quantification of digital skills which detracts from the on-the-ground reality. Their work discussed the 'motive' rather than the motivation - the often seemingly inconsequential triggers that cause people to change their behaviour without necessarily making a conscious decision to do so.

Digital disengagement may be an active choice, as people have differing views on the benefits of being online and prefer non-digital options. Alternatively however disengagement may be due to factors associated with a person’s background or circumstance which are outside of their control, liken to other facets of digital exclusion. Like digital skills, interest and engagement are not binary - they exist on a spectrum.

Research points to a lack of interest in using the internet as a common reason for not being digitally engaged - Ofcom found that not having internet access at home was due to not being interested or not having the need to go online for 69% of adults (2024). It is believed that those with a genuine disinterest may not be aware of the benefits of the internet, or that these non-users are masking underlying reasons such as a lack of skill, concern about affordability, or lack of trust in digital services and the online world. It is believed this may be why there is an inflated proportion of people saying they are not interested (UK Parliament POST, 2024).

Digital exclusion is not binary: people are not either offline or online, the real picture is more complicated. Excluded people may only lack access due to very low incomes, or they may have a minimum level of digital skills but not have enough confidence to engage more widely in the opportunities of a digital world. The evidence often refers to people who can or do use the internet but remain digitally excluded as ‘limited users’.

How to engage offline and limited users in existing support opportunities is a critical challenge to address. A cost effective way to share information is online. In 2020, the Department for Education launched the Skills Toolkit as part of the UK Government's response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Toolkit provided thousands of members of the public with access to free, online courses aimed at improving citizens’ digital and numeracy skills, in turn supporting lifelong learning and enhancing their employability and ability to adapt to the changing job market. However, many in the further education sector were critical of this approach, as they said the money invested in the Toolkit was not good value for money.

There are thousands of opportunities for excluded people to gain basic digital skills, and to access free mobile connectivity, and to access free public devices or devices from re-use services such as the National Device Bank. There could be much better, and systematic, signposting from Government front-line workers, and Government helpline, to what is available locally which could in turn help people engage digitally.

Community provision of digital inclusion support is essential to help citizens’ confidence and engagement with the online world - there is an ecosystem of initiatives across the UK that are facilitating this. Piecing together digital inclusion hubs, banking hubs, GP practices, family hubs, food banks and Citizens Advice bureaux, into a single ‘national network’ of hyperlocal digital inclusion support or active and proactive signposting, would engage people ‘where they are’ in trusted local places and at the time when a digitally excluded person is asking for offline help. The Good Things Foundation National Digital Inclusion Network (see UK Practice) now has over 5,000 such organisations.

A mission-led approach to policy making should make tackling digital exclusion more successful. Driving up usage of the NHS App alongside ensuring all citizens have the internet access (data and device) and the basic digital skills they need will help the nation achieve the Mission for better and fairer health for all. Ensuring systemic change and embedding digital inclusion into national policy and at a local level should ensure that economic growth is felt in all parts of the country and for all people - be it the new Jobs and Careers Centres, Skills England, or a Government Financial Inclusion Strategy.

The recent Pathways to Work Commission, led by Alan Milburn in Barnsley, shows that by leaving millions of people behind we’re not only hollowing out communities but we’re not realising the benefits to the economy. The  report highlights the 6.9 million people who are ‘economically inactive’ - proposing both reforms and better joining up in the welfare system, the health system, the employment support system; and that employers have a key role, as do community based charities. The report says that a lack of digital skills is one of the key barriers that need tackling, and with a digital inclusion lens it could be that digital inclusion could unlock some of the (jobs, work, health, et al) opportunities that should and could be available. 

Digital exclusion - and the lack of basic digital skills and confidence to engage online - is a barrier to gaining or maintaining skills and knowledge more broadly. There are now significant overlaps between ‘digital literacy’ and other types of literacy and numeracy needed for social and economic participation at all ages. In particular: 

• Media literacy, including aspects of online safety education
• Financial education, to support financial inclusion
• Health information literacy (strong overlaps with digital and media literacy).

From a policy (reserved, devolved) and regulatory perspective, the landscape of duties and funding is complex. From a literacies and education perspective, each of these literacies has specialist approaches, providers, evidence base and distinct elements. From a person-centred perspective, there is a case for making it much easier for people and groups to get the skills and understanding they need to engage in a digital society and economy - irrespective of literacy labels. What is the scope for a holistic approach which cuts across ‘literacy silos’?

National Digital Inclusion Network

Since 2011, Good Things Foundation has worked with charities, social enterprises, public services such as libraries, and other civil society organisations to advocate for and deliver digital inclusion hyper locally - at scale. Our Network includes over 5,000 of these ‘Digital Inclusion Hubs’ which are actively providing support to address exclusion in some way, across the country.

This model builds on evidence from evaluation research and experience of the effectiveness, where civil society has the resources and support to do this well (House of Lords, 2023). For example, between 2014-2021, Good Things delivered the Future Digital Inclusion programme funded by the Department for Education, which resulted in over 1 million people receiving support through the Network model. Evidence from a major evaluation project found community-based basic digital skills learning saw people progress to the following outcomes: 

• 84% further learning
• 80% employment-related activity
• 75% improved self-confidence.

Partnership working with sector leaders and stakeholders in the devolved nations, regions, and local authorities helps make best use of available resources (such as free mobile data from the National Databank) to support an approach that is UK/national, regional and local. For example: Get Online London, Greater Manchester CA Digital Inclusion Agenda; Liverpool City Region Digital Inclusion Network; 100% Digital Leeds; Digital Essex; CovConnects - also with local VCSE, NHS, libraries and others.  

Digital Communities Wales

The Digital Strategy for Wales includes a mission on Digital Inclusion. A major focus for activity is the Welsh Government funded programme, Digital Communities Wales. This is delivered by Cwmpas, in partnership with Good Things Foundation. It began in 2019 and will run until June 2025. The current focus is to embed and mainstream digital inclusion within identified thematic areas: Health, Social Care, Social Housing, Older People, Ethnic Minority Communities, and Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller communities. The programme includes: advice and training for organisations to embed digital inclusion, including digital champions; strengthening the National Digital Inclusion Network and use of National Databank and Learn my Way; cross-sector collaboration through Digital Inclusion Alliance Wales and the Digital Inclusion Charter for Wales. Welsh Government, Cwmpas, DIAW and others have collaborated on the Minimum Digital Living Standard for Wales. Cwmpas recently published ‘Digital Inclusion: A vision for the future’. 

Connecting Scotland and Beyond

SCVO (Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations) is the leading digital inclusion organisation in Scotland. With funding from Scottish Government, SCVO led delivery of Connecting Scotland (a national programme which provided devices, connectivity and skills support to over 61,000 digitally excluded people in the pandemic). SCVO works with Scottish and UK partners to provide advice and support to organisations to embed digital inclusion; and to offer ongoing support as needed to those who received Connecting Scotland support. SCVO recently published ‘Making digital inclusion everyone’s responsibility: A roadmap for Scotland’. Scottish Government and SCVO are about to launch a new Digital Inclusion Charter for Scotland to stimulate national conversation and collaboration. Scottish Government is also funding research to develop the Minimum Digital Living Standard for Scotland, aligned to priorities for tackling child poverty.

Digital Unite - Digital Champions, UK

Digital Unite empowers individuals to become digital mentors within their communities - a ‘Digital Champion’ approach to digital inclusion. By providing training and resources, Digital Unite develops Digital Champions who are able to support others in gaining essential digital skills and confidence. Since 1996, Digital Unite have delivered their Digital Champion programme, supporting underserved communities - including older people, people living rural and/or remote areas, and those living on a low income - that typically experience digital exclusion across the UK.

Digital Skills Pathways, UK

The UK Government funded three digital skills pathway pilots in Greater Manchester, West Midlands, and North-of-Tyne Combined Authorities which demonstrated comparable outcomes - a model across the CAs was tested to ensure learners were provided friendly, local, and trusted support in places where they already went (hubs such as libraries, housing associations, community centres, GPs, etc.) and could progress into further learning and/or work opportunities if they wanted to (FE colleges worked with hubs to ensure a pathway of support). The outcomes were:

• Almost 95% of learners felt that their digital skills were better, and nearly 75% felt that they could use it for interests or hobbies
• 92% felt more confident using the internet, and 92% felt more confident in general
• Nearly 80% felt motivated to keep learning; 86% felt more able to stay safe online.

Building on the success of this pilot, West Midlands CA launched a new Digital Skills Curriculum Blueprint for the West Midlands. WMCA also secured £4 million to distribute over 17,000 digital devices to digitally excluded residents through its Connect Services project.

Baltimore’s Black Butterfly, USA

Baltimore has two poor, under-resourced, and predominantly Black communities, which fan out across the city’s eastern and western halves in near symmetry, like the shape of a butterfly’s wings. Communities within the western and eastern wings of the Black Butterfly experience racial inequity, crime, health disparities, and poverty.

40.7% of households in Baltimore do not have wired internet service. One in three households have neither a desktop nor laptop computer. Their holistic approach to digital inclusion and community ownership provides an interesting case study of how digital inclusion can be used as a platform for wider societal benefits.

The digital inclusion intervention started with community owned free wifi across a neighbourhood, teaching people coming for food from the food bank how to connect to the community wifi. Leading to the training and employing of local people to run the service and to be Community Stewards - “It’s about us facilitating a long-term opportunity to dismantle institutional racism,” says Alexandria. “Out of these negative things comes a workforce of people who understand Wi-Fi. It’s not just ‘oh, I can be a technician, but I can be an owner.’ That’s the definition of reclamation and for me that’s what most exciting about it for me.”

It has expanded into Community Centres and into providing home broadband; the leaders are clear that this activity is about equity and tackling racial inequality. They have built a business, trained and employed local people, and are supporting at least 2,000 people per week with essential, free, connectivity. 

Get Online Week, UK & Australia 

Get Online Week is Good Things Foundation’s annual digital inclusion campaign that encourages people to develop digital skills and confidence, spanning two continents. In the UK, the campaign takes place every October through Digital Inclusion Hubs in Good Things’ National Digital Inclusion Network spread across the country.

Hubs provide support to help people access the internet and learn and improve their online capabilities by hosting a range of free events and workshops that encourages people to participate more fully in the online world. Last year (2023) in the UK, over 865 events were held, supporting over 16,000 people to cross the digital divide in just one week. The campaign is a global initiative, fostering community engagement in both the UK and Australia -  the Federal Government in Australia provides very small grants to support Get Online Week events such as morning teas and BBQs.

Konexio, France

Founded in 2016, Konexio is a nonprofit organisation that runs almost 300 free tailored, inclusive digital skills training programmes, provides employment support (partnered with Uber, HP, and IBM) and fosters community engagement aimed at bridging the divide across four French cities: Paris, Nantes, Bordeaux and Lille. The networked organisation supports typically underserved populations such as refugees, migrants, and individuals from lower income households by offering them training in various digital competencies. So far the initiative has trained over 6,300 people, which reported 96% learner satisfaction, and nearly 60% of participants found employment or further training within a year.

Diia Education, Ukraine

Diia.Education — Ukrainian Edutainment Platform for Reskilling and Digital Literacy  targets a broad and diverse range of audiences including children and young people, lifelong learning for all adults, public servants, teachers, librarians, job seekers and veterans. There is an online learning platform and offline ‘digital literacy’ hubs. They have 2.1m registered users for the online platform, 6m+ Ukrainians involved in digital literacy programmes, and 5000+ offline hubs. 

The UK Government could set an ambitious vision, for example, to end Digital Exclusion by 2035 (within a decade) for both access and skills; with some digital services (especially NHS, government and other public services) needing to provide alternative support for people who can’t use them (reasonable adjustments, vulnerable customers).

There is scope to draw on existing frameworks and metrics, as well as developing new metrics, to agree a core set which can be used widely to track progress at UK, devolved, regional and local levels.

[Update January 2025: Collaboration on core metrics is now underway building on this briefing on UK datasets on digital inclusion.]