Digital inclusion: A year in review

In 2024, up to 19 million people aged 16 and above are estimated to be in digital poverty in the UK, with an additional one in five children impacted. Digital exclusion creates additional challenges in peoples’ health, wellbeing, social inclusion, housing, education, work life, and more.

 

For this reason it is unfortunately no surprise that 82% of charities have told us they are concerned about digital exclusion.

 

Action is being taken both inside and outside of the sector to address the issue. In this article, we explore the key digital inclusion developments in 2024.

 

 

New government, new commitment?

 

In July 2024, the UK public voted in a Labour government, and in doing so, potentially changed the national approach to digital inclusion.

 

Before it was elected, the Labour party pledged to support digital inclusion, including measures on digital infrastructure, poverty, and digital skills education.

 

But The Digital Poverty Alliance said the Manifesto was “mixed in terms of digital poverty”, explaining “promises relating specifically to digital poverty have been disappointingly thin”.

 

After the election, at the launch of Good Things Foundation’s Get Online Week, Chris Bryant, Minister of State at the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology, described government plans to help fix the digital divide. “We will deliver a digital inclusion plan and strategy…in the end Government needs to take a healthy interest and responsibility and express its passion for binding everybody into the digital future that we want to embrace”.

 

Good Things Foundation has published five policy asks to fix the digital divide, while the Digital Poverty Alliance has outlined the next steps for government and politicians to tackle digital poverty.

 

To address online abuse, Glitch has called on the new government to work with Ofcom to honour the protection of women and girls in the Online Safety Act, following the digital misogynoir and online abuse that negatively impacted MPs who are Black women during the election.

 

 

All eyes on AI

 

A major theme of digital inclusion work in 2024 has been grappling with the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI), what it means for the diverse digitally excluded population, and taking action to address both its benefits and risks.

For example, AbilityNet examined the nuanced role of AI in improving digital accessibility.

 

Charities also worked to limit the digital exclusion that could result from people who don’t have AI access, skills, and confidence.

 

Good Things Foundation produced research on how to support people who lack basic digital skills to safely engage with AI.

 

Meanwhile, anti-abuse charity Glitch worked on mitigating AI harms by launching a campaign demanding the government to stop image-based abuse, including AI deepfakes.

 

At the AI Fringe Summit 2024, Francine Bennet, Interim Director at the Ada Lovelace Institute, discussed the status of AI safety, reflecting, “It is a technology which can do lots of things but I think it’s being driven by excitement about the bleeding edge of tech more than by what we actually want from it right now. I’d love to see the human and social perspective in the centre of that much more.”

 

A panel of AI and charity experts also explored some of these ideas in our on-demand webinar, ‘Artificial intelligence and digital inclusion’.

 

 

Charities champion digital inclusion

 

In 2024, charities have continued working hard to end digital exclusion. Good Things Foundation’s National Digital Inclusion Network hosted 5,000 community access points, enabling local communities to be happier, healthier, more employable, and financially better off.

 

Nearly 10,000 people have received a device through Good Things Foundation’s National Device Bank, with 98% of recipients feeling happier, healthier, and better off, and saving 100,000 kilograms of e-waste from being disposed of.

 

The Digital Poverty Alliance celebrated a milestone of two million micro-donations to support its Tech4Families programme, enabling over 1,700 families to access refurbished laptops and tailored digital support.

 

In 2024, Age UK Camden supported 434 clients with digital inclusion, including tailored training, one-on-one support, and easy-to-use devices. After receiving digital inclusion support, clients reported a 75% increase in health and wellbeing and an average of 60% drop in anxiety levels.

 

CodeYourFuture celebrated the milestone of helping 250 disadvantaged and marginalised adults by providing free technology and soft skills training. The charity won a Learning with Technology Award in July.

 

In August, domestic abuse charity Refuge hosted their inaugural Tech Safety Summit, a two-day event to raise awareness and education around technology-facilitated domestic abuse.

 

Other major awareness-raising events included the annual Get Online Week, End Digital Poverty Day, and Safer Internet Day.

 

Our Digital Inclusion Campaign at Charity Digital aimed to raise the profile of digital inclusion in the charity sector, reaching 35,000 engagements over the course of the year. In a small survey we conducted, 74% of respondents said the campaign changed their perspective, while 79% said it led to them changing their actions.

 

Everyone should be able to use digital when, where, and how they need to. How will your charity help end digital exclusion in 2025?