Tomorrow, ND2012 – the 7th national digital conference – kicks off in London, and I’m really excited about meeting some of our great UK online centres who are attending, and catching up with some of our fantastic partners who are doing great work in the field of digital.
I’ll blog later this week about what I learned from the conference, but I’ve had a quick glance at the programme and there’s a lot to look forward to. We’ve got a real vested interest in the digital by default agenda, so tomorrow’s Digital Public Services debate is something I will be listening to keenly! I’ll also be speaking on Day 2 as part of the Everybody Online plenary, so if you’re at the conference I’ll expect to see you there! For those not attending, my slides will be available on the blog and on Slideshare from Thursday so you won’t have to miss out. The conference is a great way to bring together partners from across the sectors, and every year I come away with fresh ideas, so I’m sure this year will be no different. If you’re attending, I’ll look forward to seeing you there!Will the carrot or the stick help get social housing tenants online?
I’ve blogged before about the importance of getting social housing tenants online, and it’s at the front of my mind at the moment as I’ve been working with a lot of providers to help them get their digital strategies in place.
This week, I was asked by one of the senior management team at Bracknell Forest Homes whether the stick or the carrot was the best approach, which is nicely illustrated by Solihull Community Housing entering tenants into a draw to win £10,000 if they pay their rent by direct debit – you can have a look at the competition here.
In all honesty, I don’t think there’s an easy answer. Lots of people see the introduction of Universal Credit as a stick to coax people online, but I think it’s also a carrot for many people – if you’re claiming you can claim your benefits more quickly, get them paid to you all at once and have more control over your own money, which is a pretty big selling point. Universal Credit mimics the way you would get paid if (or when) you’re in work.
Latest ONS stats published today – and we’re moving in the right direction
Once again, it’s time for my quarterly comment on how quickly time has passed, marked by the publishing of the latest ONS statistics into Internet Access. So, here it goes – doesn’t time fly!
The good news is that the number of offline people has decreased again in the first quarter of 2012, down by 1% to 8.12 million. Things are definitely moving in the right direction. I like to look on the bright side of life, but I think there might be some disappointment in the sector that the rate of movement seems to have slowed down, with the stats only down by 83,000 in the past quarter, compared to 229,000 for the last quarter of 2011. There are lots of reasons for this, but for me the main one is clear – and it’s a pretty straightforward one. It’s just getting more difficult to encourage people to get online. It makes sense really – the more people we get online, the further away those who are offline become.One thing the ONS data doesn’t give us is more information on these 8.12 million people, who can be categorised in lots of different ways. For a start, we know that some of these 8.12 million people want to be online. Lots of the people we help in UK online centres probably fall in this category, as they’ve decided for one reason or another – grandchildren in Australia, wanting to check the football scores online or save a bit of money by using comparison sites – that there are benefits to being online.
And I know from talking to a lot of people about getting online that a lot of them are indifferent. They could be persuaded (and I can often be seen trying to persuade them!) but they need inspiring and supporting to discover the benefits of the internet. With these people it’s a bit about showing them to great things the internet can do, and a bit about giving them a push – which is what things like having to search and apply for a new job online, or in the future having to apply for benefits online, will hopefully do.
If we think of closing this divide as a metaphor, we’d all love to think of it as a car. Just a little bit of momentum and we’re off – there’s just no stopping us! Unfortunately, I think it’s more like a marathon (or the London to Brighton bike ride I somehow seem to have signed up for!) The first few miles seem easy, but as you get further from the start line every movement seems like an effort, and it feels like you’ll never reach the cheering crowds at the end. In our marathon, at the moment it feels a bit like we’ve hit the wall and, despite our efforts, we’re not getting much further. But I’m really positive that with some perseverance, a few gritted teeth and a bit of determination, we’ll get to the finish line. It’s just a bit further away than we’d hoped.
Welcome Go ON UK
It’s been a busy time here at UK online centres, and so apologies for not posting more regularly over the last few weeks. You’ll be pleased to know that there will be a lot to share over the next month or so, as we embark on some exciting new projects. I’ll also be attending and speaking at ND2012 at the end of May, and am looking forward to meeting and catching up with lots of like-minded people. ND2012 will also mark a year since I first started blogging – doesn’t time fly!
I wanted to blog quickly to mark the launch of Go ON UK, a brand new charity set up by Martha Lane Fox, which took place on 24 April. Unfortunately, I was still stateside so couldn’t make the launch, but our Chairman Jim Knight, board members Will Perrin and Roger Darlington and our very own Director of Operations Kevin McLean all attended, and were very impressed by the enthusiasm shared by the charity’s broad range of partners. Go ON UK’s mission is to bring the benefits of the internet to every organisation and every individual in the country, and they’ve got some pretty impressive founder partners in the form of Age UK, BBC, Big Lottery Fund, E.ON, Lloyds Banking Group, Post Office and TalkTalk, who will be helping them. They also have lots of other expert partners helping them, including Childnet, One Voice, e-Skills UK and us here at UK online centres, who will all be on the executive group. I’d like to welcome new CEO Marketa Mach, who brings lots of great experience of working in the digital arena (including for Apple), and who I’m sure will do a great job heading up the charity. I’m sure there will be lots more to share about Go ON UK and how we’re working together in the future, but for now congratulations to all involved, and I’m looking forward to working with you!My American Adventures Part 2
Howdy y’all! I’m now well into my American Adventures, and suffice to say I’m having a great time meeting some fantastic people, and talking about the work UK online centres does. You all know I’m a fan of stats and I’ve picked up some great ones so far – including that 100 million Americans don’t have home broadband, and 66 million Americans are digitally illiterate – more than the total population of the UK – which show just how important the issue of digital skills is.
One of the most interesting meetings I’ve had so far was with Susan Hildreth, Director of the Institute of Museums and Library Services, who was appointed by President Obama himself. I ran a seminar with her and her colleagues about our model in the UK, and very excitingly we talked about how our Online basics course could be used across libraries all across the US to help get people online. I’ve also been learning about Connect 2 Compete, a digital literacy training programme that promotes broadband and digital skills training to improve communities. Unsurprisingly, there are a lot of parallels between them and the work we do in the UK. And the similarities don’t stop there. The US and UK have a lot in common in terms of the demographics of offline people, and the barriers they face to getting online, and so there is a lot of expertise we can share with them – which I’m really keen to do. The importance of broadband access is something that’s at the top of their agenda, and although they know that matching skills to access is really important, there’s still more of a focus on pipes than people, a situation we’ve often been in in the UK. You’ll know I’m a bit advocate of digital skills, and I’m sure we can find a way to work with IMLS, Connect 2 Compete, and other American partners, so we can help promote and support digital inclusion over the pond as well as back at home. I’ll aim to blog again the next couple of days about my trip to Facebook, and some other exciting meetings I’ve got planned in so do keep an eye out. Yesterday, I spoke at the University of Berkeley about the similarities (and differences) between digital skills in the US and the UK, so I’ll share these slides on Slideshare (where this whole story started!) as soon as I can.My American Adventures: Part 1
I’ve been a bit quiet on this blog recently, but that’s only because there are big things in the pipeline here at UK online centres. Not only are we planning to move into a new office, and working with partners on lots of new and exciting projects (more coming soon), but next week I’ll be heading off to the USA to share some of my ideas and expertise with them, and hopefully to get lots of inspiration that I can bring back to the UK.
Firstly I’d like to say “hallelujah” to the magic of the internet and thank you to Greg Niemeyer who found me via SlideShare and is supporting my trip to California. It’s a pretty jam-packed itinerary and I’ll be speaking at two digital symposiums in UC Berkeley, as well as presenting to some representatives from the US Library Service. Although I do a lot of speaking here in the UK, and I’m used to talking about the impacts the work we’ve done has had, it’s a real honour and privilege to be asked to hop across the pond and share my knowledge over there. I’ll be in geek heaven, with my first trip to Silicon Valley, and meeting with Wikipedia, Techsoup, and SocialBrite. These are all people I’m really keen to learn from, and I’m sure they’ll have a lot of advice and inspiration that will help shape our digital strategies back in the UK. Despite the jetlag, a packed diary, and trying to fit in a birthday celebration, I’ll let you know how I’m getting on. I’ll try to make sure my Tweets aren’t too annoying and I’ll share things as I go.
Universal Credit – so what’s it all about?
A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned Universal Credit and I promised to talk more about what it meant, and the huge impact it’s going to have on our benefits system.
For those of you that don’t know, the simple story is this – Universal Credit is a new benefit that will be introduced next year by the Department for Work and Pensions. It’s the biggest shake up of the benefits system ever, and will mean that six different benefits, provided by two different government departments and lots of local authorities will be brought together into one single benefit – the Universal Credit. There are some other changes too, like the fact that benefits will be paid to the household rather than the individual, and money will be paid monthly rather than a mixture of weekly, fortnightly and monthly payments so the claimant will need to develop strong skills in personal budgeting. So far, so simple? Well, one of the most important things about the Universal Credit is that it will be a fully “digital by default” benefit, meaning people will have to claim for the benefit online. The benefit will first be rolled out in autumn 2013, and people will be gradually moved across to using it over four years.DWP sees this as far more than just a benefit, and you won’t be surprised to hear that I’m right behind them on this. This is a change programme on a huge scale, and making sure that claimants have the right skills to access the Universal Credit will be fundamental to its success. With the programme hoping to make it more attractive for people to work, and to simplify our complicated benefits system, it’s vital that it’s successful. But I’m not naive to think it will be easy. There needs to be a significant investment in skills – not just digital skills, but other skills such as financial literacy – which is something I’m pushing hard for. I know from visiting our centres, and talking to learners on a regular basis, that transacting online can be scary at times, and not a lot of people feel confident enough to do it, so it’s important that the support is there for everyone who needs it. The Jobcentre Plus Digital Champions initiative is a really great example of how this could work. I’ve talked about it before, but putting champions into Jobcentres, who are enthusiastic about the internet and can build up local partnerships, including with UK online centres, has been a fantastic way to get jobseekers online. This model can, and should, continue to work to support people as we move towards the introduction of Universal Credit. As you might have noticed, I’m quite a positive person, so I can see a really exciting future for Universal Credit. And of course, if people get the support they need to use digital for benefits this will extend to the rest of their lives as well, meaning the introduction of Universal Credit will have a double benefit. There are bound to be teething problems with a change of this kind of scale, and my friends in Social Housing Providers are wary too. But I believe this will be a significant milestone towards the UK becoming a leading digital nation, and I’m looking forward to working on the frontline to help introduce it.
Average users are online for 15 hours a week
Stats time again, and yesterday Ofcom launched their 2012 Adults: media use and attitudes report, which provides an overview of media use, attitudes and understanding amongst UK adults. I’m always glad to have a report to get my teeth into, and found lots of interesting numbers in this one. Most interestingly for us, the report says 79% of adults in the UK now use the internet somewhere – at home, at work, on the bus with a smartphone – up from 56% in 2005 (you might have noticed this is different from the ONS stats we quoted a few weeks ago, and from the OxIS report published last year. I’ll blog again soon about why these differences exist and what they mean.)
There were lots of other interesting data in the report. The average user now says they’re online for 15 hours a week, up from 10 hours since 2005. We’re very high-tech here and work in the cloud, so it can sometimes feel like I can spend 15 hours online in one day! But it’s really interesting that people are finding an extra 5 hours in their week to be online, and am sure this is down to the huge rise in mobile internet usage, with smartphone use up to 55% from 39%; and 79% of adults now going online on any device in any location. Having a smartphone does certainly help fill the dead hours spent on trains and waiting for buses! And it’s no surprise that social networking is growing – with 59% of adult internet users now having a profile on a social networking site, up from 22% in 2007. That year (2007), we published our network development plan where we rated “online residents” or social networkers as more advanced internet users than bloggers, publishers of photos and content and online transactors – how wrong we were, with social networking now one of the most accessible things you can do on the web. It’s funny to think the example we gave for the “online resident” was a mySpace user, which just goes to show how much things have changed. Reports like these are a great way of casting an eye back over the digital skills landscape, and measuring where we are now, but one thing it does make clear is just how hard it is to predict what’s coming next. Who’s to know what’s round the corner, and whether the next Facebook is already out there, slowly gaining a following. Only time will tell!Can we top the European league?
This week is European Get online week, a continent-wide campaign inspired by our very own UK campaign which happens every October. The European campaign kicks off today and runs all week, and we’re supporting it here in the UK.
Taking part in the campaign got me thinking about statistics, and how the UK stacks up against its European neighbours. With the European Football Championships coming up, it might make sense to think of us in terms of a league – and we’re not doing badly. We’re 11th in the table of online European countries – and we’re ahead of the usual footballing suspects like France, Spain and Germany. However, we’re not in the finals yet, and it’s the Scandinavian countries like Norway and Sweden who look like they will be lifting the cup. No-one is really quite clear why these countries have raced ahead, but there is certainly a lot we could learn from them. For a start, there is less inequality full-stop in these countries, and this inequality filters down into other areas of life, which means more people get online.Governments in Scandinavia are also fully committed to getting their citizens online, with Finland even declaring the internet as a human right. This is a pretty strong statement, and although our government is committed to improving broadband penetration as well as digital skills, they’ve yet to make such a strong statement in support of it. I’m pretty proud that the UK’s done so well, with around 84% of our population online. But I’m never one to rest on my laurels, and so while we’re coming together as a continent to celebrate the joys of being online, what better time to call for even greater collaboration, greater support and a harder push to ensure we can reach our Scandinavian neighbours at the top of the table – and maybe even lift the cup. We’re leading a European Treasure Hunt (online Quiz) this week on twitter, with the clues coming from @ukonlinecentres and twitter hashtag #GOW12. I’ve just checked the counter on our homepage and already more than 7,000 Europeans have got online just this morning.
The lowdown on our first research symposium
Yesterday, we held our first research symposium (which you might have noticed I’ve mentioned before!) at the LSE in London. It was a great day, full of interesting findings, challenging questions and lively discussion. I’d firstly like to thank Ellen Helsper and the LSE Media Policy Unit for hosting the event, helping to organise the day and sharing their knowledge.
I’d also like to thank everyone that came along to share what they’re doing in the social digital sphere, what they think we’re not asking and what they think has (and hasn’t) worked so far.
Another point of consensus was into to the link between social inclusion and digital inclusion policy and practice. Agreement in the room was clear – we can’t address digital exclusion without addressing social exclusion, and its only by linking action on both that we’ll be able to help close the divide that still exists.
While we found common ground in many instances, we couldn’t agree on everything. I’m still not convinced that internet TV is the thing that will get everyone online, although judging by the mood in the room I’m in the minority on this one.
An event like this was never going to answer the big questions, but what it did do was bring a group of people together that made me feel really proud to be working in this field, alongside some really passionate and inspired people. One agreement we definitely did come to was that this won’t be a one-off, so you can look forward to more blogs from me on a similar subject in the future. In the meantime, why not take a look at the LSE’s Social Digital blog series to read the views of some of the symposium’s other attendees.
Helen Milner 