Closing the digital divide

Computing speaks to the government's champion for digital inclusion Martha Lane Fox about how best to get everyone in the UK online

Lane Fox is targeting the most socially and digitally excluded as the first stage of her campaign

Yesterday, entrepreneur Martha Lane Fox launched a new initiative to support her role as the government’s champion for digital inclusion.

Dubbed Race Online 2012, the plan is backed by research from the Office of Digital Inclusion and PricewaterhouseCoopers and aims to get the most socially or digitally deprived sections of the UK population connected - some 14 million people - within three years.

According to Lane Fox, 2012 seemed like an appropriate target date due to the attention the UK will receive around the Olympics - she hopes it will help push all parties involved towards the ultimate goal of digital inclusion.

“I was asked to look at how the most socially excluded and digitally disadvantaged people could take part in the internet revolution and how the opportunities and choices in their life could be enhanced,” Lane Fox told Computing.

“I know achieving it [in the three-year period] is an ambitious target but with a combination of good public-private partnerships, charities and the government working together we should be successful,” she said.

“But the campaign won’t stop after that target date. It's just that I am a big believer in using milestones to give focus, rather than just talking about a long-term future.”

According to Lane Fox, there are a lot of misconceptions about the internet, so the campaign is looking to encourage people with the experience and web skills to share their knowledge with others.

“We need the press to talk about the opportunities the internet affords, as well as more commercial reasons for people to get online,” she said.

Despite the challenges ahead, the digital inclusion champion is certain her plan will take the majority of people within her target group online by 2012.

Lane Fox also thinks that digital inclusion will help to close the IT skills gap, and hopes that this will be done in enough time to stem the flow of the UK’s IT talent overseas.

“We can encourage our government to focus on the development of IT skills here,” she said.

There are many pieces needed to complete the digital divide jigsaw – government cash, high-speed broadband, better education – and Lane Fox thinks it is essential that they are all employed to improve inclusion.

She added: “Private companies need to offer incentives to their customers to encourage them to access services via the internet, and the government needs to do the same.”

Individuals with the skills to help those who are more disadvantaged must get involved, said Lane Fox, adding that she encourages her father, historian Robin Lane Fox, who is otherwise unenthusiastic about the web.

The IT community can also help the initiative – tech businesses including Intel, BT and Google have already signed up to support the campaign – and Lane Fox wants “any company using technology to be thinking about how they can get involved”.

“Technology companies can help by promoting training, cheaper hardware and software, or offering skills to local charities,” she said.

“It is important to remember that not everyone has access to technology, and IT companies have the power to spread software, hardware and skills.”

The digital divide is too important an issue to ignore, so Lane Fox does not think her work would be threatened by the Tories.

“This is an independent task force, so I would be very surprised if anything changed under a new government.”

More information about the Race Online 2012 can be found here.