Digital Evolution: Healthier.
Happier. Better Off
Good Things
Foundation Annual Conference, London, 19th November 2019
Draft Report from
Jenny Sims
For the NPC Digital
Inclusion/Exclusion Working Party, 3rd December 2019
INTRODUCTION The
Good Things Foundation, based in Sheffield, is a social change charity, aimed
at helping people, including older people, improve their lives through
digital. They work in communities
nationally and internationally to deliver deep impact at scale.
OVERVIEW The
conference was well-worth attending because: I gained a greater understanding of the state
of digital inclusion and exclusion in the UK and internationally from the
speakers’ excellent presentations, the Q&A sessions, workshop discussions,
and informal networking – which will be useful to the NPC’s Digital WP.
From the above I came away with a number of successful examples
of how older people have been helped to transform and improve their lives, and
a variety of ideas for the NPC’s Campaign on Digital Inclusion and Exclusion.
In addition, after the conference, I was able to talk
privately to Helen Milner OBE, Group Chief Executive and tell her about the NPC
– the organisation, membership and the Pensioners Convention. I also told her that I had suggested* her as
a speaker on Social Inclusion & Life Long Learning at the next Convention
in June and asked if she would be interested. (*at the NPC EC meeting Nov. 19th).
Yes, she is! (I had an email the next day before she flew to Australia).
RECOMMENDATIONS
·
The NPC invites Helen Milner OBE, the Group
Chief Executive, as a speaker on Social Inclusion and Life Long Learning at the
NPC’s next Pensioners Convention in Southport in June. Helen was awarded an OBE
for services to digital inclusion. She’s
worked in the House of Commons as a member of The Speaker’s Commission for
Digital Democracy and was the Specialist Adviser on Digital Engagement to the
House of Commons’ Public Accounts Committee. She is a member of the Digital
Skills Partnership Board chaired by the UK’s Digital Minister.
·
The NPC considers becoming a ‘partner’
organisation of the Good Things Organisation to help us to enable disadvantaged
older people to overcome the barriers to inclusion, build motivation, tap into
GTO’s training skills’ support, enable local collaboration and networking.
Also, importantly, the organisation is very successful at securing funding from
a wide range of sources which they could advise us on, or possibly share in a
partnered project pitch.
SOME SUCCESS STORIES,
IDEAS & STATS
Leeds Libraries. Jason
Tutin, currently leading the city’s “100% Digital Leeds” digital inclusion
programme which is increasing the digital confidence, capacity and connectivity
of organisations across Leeds with the
biggest tablet lending scheme in the country, grant funding opportunities,
Digital Champions training and extending free Wi-Fi. Jason and his team are working with
communities to remove barriers to digital inclusion and improve outcomes for
everyone.
(Re. ‘tablet lending’. In the Q&A which followed this
presentation, a member of the audience extolled a similar scheme in her area,
going on to explain that some older people who had learned how to use computers
this way had become ‘teachers’ themselves.
Similar examples were given of an Australian scheme where digital ‘learners’ in their eighties, had gone on to
become ‘digital trainers.’ I will pass on these examples to NPC Wales and the
Vale of Glamorgan library service which has recently launch a tablet-lending
scheme).
Can digital inclusion
make people healthier? Three participants in a panel discussion claimed it
can.
Pete Nuckley, GTF’s Senior Service Designer has been leading
their work in digital health for three years through the NHS Widening Digital
Participation Programme, co-designing 23 different projects helping the most
excluded groups in England improve their health and wellbeing through digital.
These include the homeless community in Hastings and elderly isolated people in
Northumberland.
Paul Davies and his wife Sue run Destinations@Saltburn, a
Community Resource and Online Centre in Teeside which provide accredited and
non-accredited training for people of all ages and backgrounds, and any skill
level, as well as programmes to promote digital inclusion.
Saira Arif, former Digital Citizen & Innovation Project
Manager for North West London Collaboration of Clinical Commissioning Groups,
has recently joined ORCHA, the health app evaluation and advisory organisation.
Funding opportunities
(from a handout at the Accessibility Workshop I attended)
Has the NPC considered applying to NATIONAL LOTTERY AWARDS
FOR ALL:
Grants from £300 - £10,000 to support what matters to people
and communities. They will fund organisations with great project ideas that:
·
Shape the places and spaces that matter to
communities.
·
Bring more people together and build strong
relationships in and across communities.
STATS
OFFLINE NATION (9% of the population are non-users): Low income, older, uneducated – have none of
the 7 Foundation Digital Skills. They worry about: identity theft (60%);
privacy and security (58%); use of their data (55%)
ONLINE NATION (91%): Better off, young, educated. They know how to handle informationand
content, transact, communicate and problem solve.
LIMITED USERS (22%): Have some skills. 36% of these are 75+
years.
11.9m people in the UK lack essential digital skills.
CONCLUSION
Judging from the wide range of about 100 attendees from
across the UK representing governments, the public sector, private sector,
voluntary sector and individuals there is a huge amount of work being done to
address both digital inclusion and exclusion, and there are many examples of
successes. As the NCP’s Digital Campaign aims to signpost members to what is
locally available to them, we should start as soon as possible to do so by
getting the support and engagement of our Regions.
End
