Event Report: The Changing Drivers of Digital Exclusion

On Wednesday 21 February, the newly-renamed Digital Inclusion APPG held a roundtable on The Changing Drivers of Digital Exclusion. The session focussed on four themes: How are new technologies such as AI affecting digital inclusion in the UK?; How can we adapt digital education and skills training to meet the challenges and opportunities of new technologies?; How is the continued cost-of-living crisis is affecting digital inclusion in the UK?; and Which social factors are affecting digital inclusion in the UK?

The event was Chaired by APPG Co-chair Matt Warman MP. Speakers included Paul Scully MP, Former Minister for Tech and the Digital Economy; Chris Ashworth OBE, Head of Social Impact at Nominet; Anderona Cole, External Relations and Public Relations Officer at Jisc; Helen Milner, Chief Executive of the Good Things Foundation; Helen Burrows, Policy Director at BT;  Julia Chippendale, Head of Business Development at We Are Group; and Lord Clement Jones, Digital Inclusion APPG Officer and Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for the Digital Economy.

The session was preceded by the APPG’s AGM. In attendance were Chris Clarkson MP, Lord Glasman, Stephen Metcalfe MP, Grahame Morris MP, Stephen Bonnar MP and Barry Gardiner MP.

Attendees voted for Matt Warman MP and Julie Elliott MP to continue as APPG Co-Chairs, and Lord Clement-Jones and Baroness Verma were elected as Officers. The APPG’s remaining parliamentrary membership was confirmed as follows: Karen Bradley MP; Carol Monaghan MP; Siobhain McDonagh MP; Jamie Stone MP; Baroness Kennedy of Cradley; Liz Saville Roberts MP; Grahame Morris MP; Nav Mishra MP; Lord Watson of Wyre Forest; Colum Eastwood MP; Lord Knight; Lord Lucas; Lord Hall; Stephen Bonnar MP; Lord Lipsey; and Paul Scully MP. Attendees also voted to accept the group’s income and expenditure statement, which can be found here.

Please see below for minutes of the session:

Matt Warman MP welcomed attendees and explained the rationale behind the APPG changing its name and remit from the Data Poverty APPG to the Digital Inclusion APPG.  He then introduced Paul Scully MP, Former Minister for Tech and the Digital Economy to speak.

Paul Scully MP thanked the APPG’s members for the invitation and outlined his hope to continue advancing the work he began during his work as a Minister through the APPG. He then went on to outline the concerning relationship between the worsening cost of living crisis and a lack of digital skills in the workforce in relation to AI. For example, he noted that increasingly unemployed people searching for work are not being equipped with the skills needed to write a CV that won’t be filtered out by AI. He also said that some new small start-up owners aren’t well briefed enough on how to pull together a business application that will pass AI filters.

In relation to his role as Minister for Tech and the Digital Economy, Mr Scully MP said that the Department for Science, Technology and Innovation always sought to place emphasis on providing training to skills leaders in the digital space. He said it was vital to empower digital skills leaders and teachers so that they could motivate all generations to be digitally equipped to deal with technological change, especially in relation to AI. This leadership, he suggested, should start with teachers in schools who need to ensure they provide enthusiasm in classes when integrating digital skills lessons into their subject’s content.

Mr Scully MP also noted his interest in seeing how the APPG progresses with their campaign on social tariffs to make sure that as many people as possible in the UK have 24/7 access to the internet. He said that consumers were not being pushed hard enough by internet providers to take up the tariff if they qualify and opened up the floor for industry representatives to progress the debate further. He concluded by saying that Government and industry needed to work together to provide a sense of leadership on the issue of digital inclusion and ensure that people were being equipped with the right skills to adapt to all technological advances.

Matt Warman MP thanked Paul Scully MP for his contribution and introduced Chris Ashworth OBE, Head of Social Impact at Nominet.

Chris introduced his speech by thanking Mr Scully MP for attending the APPG and providing a government perspective on the issue of the digital divide. In direct response to Mr Scully’s assertion that AI could drive digital exclusion, he pointed to a recent article in the Economist which argued that AI chatbots could make users better educated, and less economically disadvantaged. Further, he posited that outside of the UK, there is a host of evidence and a breadth of studies which suggest that new technologies such as AI can lead to a wide-ranging set of positive externalities – most notably in creating personalised education programmes and better health outcomes in the public sector.

Next, Chris called on the group to metaphorically take off their VR headsets, ignore sensationalist discourse and begin observing the real-life impacts changing technologies are having on normal people’s lives in the UK. Subsequently, he asked everyone in the room to hold their nerve with technological advancements and continue to provide consumers with trust, motivation and confidence. Since 2014, he argued, there has been irrefutable evidence that investing in selected schemes and initiatives works in adapting people’s skills to changing technologies. For example, digital inclusion hubs, collaborations with housing associations and local councils and various campaigns by the Good Things Foundation, have all ensured that digital skills are increasingly matching the pace of technological change. Suggesting that industry, third sector groups and skills leaders all know the potential that AI has in contributing to an actionable national skills plan for the workforce, Mr Ashworth concluded saying this same desire needs to be matched at a government level and that digital skills should be viewed by policymakers as having the same standing as maths and literacy in schools.

Matt Warman MP thanked Chris Ashworth MBE and introduced Anderona Cole, External Relations and Public Relations Officer at Jisc.

Before Anderona introduced herself, Lord Lipsey briefly asked what Jisc stands for.

Anderona answered that it doesn’t have a specific acronym and that it is a group established to ensure that students have access online tools so that they can be confident and powerful when utilising their digital skillset.

Starting the body of her speech, Anderona said that if cost shuts younger people out of accessing technology, the digital divide will only get worse. For example, she noted that the new Apple Vision Pro costs £2500 – a figure the vast majority of students cannot get near to affording on conventional student loans and maintenance grants. This has negative impacts on young people then not being confident enough to utilise modern technology in the workplace after education.

In terms of the potential AI had in helping equalize the digital divide, Anderona agreed with Chris that there was strong evidence it had been used as a personal teaching assistant, for example for those who struggle with their literacy.  She also said had a host of benefits to disadvantaged communities, pointing to a recent study which found that international students and refugees who use AI regularly integrate into their immediate social circles quicker and more effectively. The benefits of AI also extends to the teacher, she said. Indeed, further evidence suggests that AI has been utilised by lecturers in UK universities to more efficiently pick up on educational and social inequalities in their classrooms.

Anderona was keen to point out however, that access to these initiatives remained a systematic and growing problem. If a student were to subscribe to all AI plugs to help them with their grades for example, it would cost them £1000 annually, she noted. Anderona then put to the group that industry and government needed to have a debate if the cost of these programmes should fall on the student or on Higher Education institutions more broadly. Without significant action, a whole generation of poorer students could be disadvantaged, she went on to say. Concluding that education investment was the best way to ensure a digitally competent workforce, Anderona called for increased investment in up-skilling educators and a demand to Government that programmes are put in place to make students more AI-literate on their courses.

Matt Warman MP thanked Anderona Cole and introduced Helen Milner, Chief Executive of the Good Things Foundation.

Helen started by thanking Matt Warman MP for his role chairing the meeting and noted her agreement with Anderona Cole that persistent digital exclusion and inequality would create ‘ghettos’ of disadvantaged, disconnected communities across the UK. Suggesting that policies to encourage digital inclusion are a viable solution to reducing destitution and poverty, Helen argued that many of the problems in the digital space with exclusion could be fixed by community action and initiatives.

Helen did however note her disagreement with Chris over the issue of AI caused digital exclusion. Conversely to Chris she suggested that people are routinely excluded by AI and noted that people are increasingly worried about AI innovations taking their (often low skilled, low wage) jobs. Subsequently therefore, she argued that if as a society, we don’t upskill and empower people as technology develops, the digital divide will only get deeper.

Helen pointed to the fact that on Monday 19th February, she interviewed Baroness Dido Harding as part of the Good Things Foundation’s 2024 conversation series. She referenced how Baroness Harding had pointed to a House of Lords Committee debate on digital inclusion which focussed on the crucial role that spotlighting lived experience has in this area. She concluded saying that ensuring widespread and comprehensive digital inclusion wasn’t just about driving some idea of social justice, but more crucially about having tangible economic benefits which could be felt across the UK. She then urged all industry leaders to work together to help spotlight these human stories and make the UK a world leader in digital inclusion.

Matt Warman MP thanked Helen Milner and introduced Helen Burrows, Policy Director at BT.

Calling for a holistic approach to digital inclusion, Helen began by stating that the short-term impacts of technological innovation, most pertinently in AI, were often over-inflated in popular discourses. In the short term for example, AI-based supermarket self-service and customer support has been integrated relatively successfully she argued. Helen then said that in the longer run, systematic problems related to AI will become ubiquitous and require outcome-driven actionable solutions, curated by industry and government working together. She gave the example that AI innovations could make it easier for fraudsters to trawl your social media and personalise scam messages, making them more believable, especially to vulnerable groups.

Helen also pointed out that that the key economic drivers of digital exclusion remain more pertinent and entrenched than ever as the cost-of-living crisis worsens. She noted for example that one million households in the UK with income partially obtained through G

government support are in a negative monthly budget. She therefore called explicitly on the Government to increase the support available to families struggling, suggesting that increasing low incomes was the best way to lift people out of data poverty.

Helen then returned to the long-term effects of growing digital exclusion. She noted for example that AI probably won’t ever be a single payment technology and will likely subtract money out from people’s incomes incrementally.  However, she finished on a more confident note, suggesting that large swathes of AI usage remains free at the point of use. For example, she highlighted evidence which shows that hospital booking systems are becoming more efficient and easier to navigate once AI has been integrated yet remain cost-free to the consumer. To bring these disparate zero-cost AI technologies together, a more joined up way of thinking was needed by Government, she added.

Matt Warman MP thanked Helen Burrows and introduced Julia Chippendale, Head of Business Development at We Are Group.

Julia introduced herself by outlining who ‘We Are Group’ are. The group, she explained, is a social impact business who aim to use technology for good by working with local government and the private sector to provide digital upskilling training. She then said that the benefits the training ‘We Are Group’ provides are seen every day, for a host of communities at every level. For example, being skilled digitally can improve people’s mental health and confidence and save time for families, especially in relation to online applications and shopping.

However, Julia outlined some of the growing inequalities that have come hand in hand with growing technological advancements. For instance, she pointed out that if you’re in the courts system, it’s unlikely you can access information related to your potential rehabilitation only found online, meaning you’ll only fall further into a digital poverty spiral. Without widespread digital upskilling the data, educational and cost of living ‘traps’ people live through will become ever more intertwined and harder to push back against through policy alone.

Julia then added that it is widely accepted that teaching and incorporating AI into education is the way forward for schools. Not having access to AI is no different to schools relying on old or outdated technological equipment, she added. She said that upskilling in terms of AI needs to extend beyond ages 11-18 and suggested it should be incorporated into the levelling up agenda. For example, she noted that businesses can’t get bank loans or new contracts, without proof they can navigate the AI landscape. To correct this imbalance seen at an educational and industrial level, investment in more AI, is not the solution and there should be more focus on increasing and diversifying skills and access. She further explained that Government and industry must recognise that the levelling up landscape can come from AI, but that it is not the sole solution. Julia went on to point out that there are countless studies to suggest that British companies who are investing in their AI upskilling are more likely to stay afloat, and more competitive than those who just invest in the technologies themselves. She concluded by saying that adopting technology ‘for good’ (as referred to in her introduction) entails joining together the national thinking on stopping digital, educational and income-based poverty.

Matt Warman MP thanked Julia Chippendale for her contribution and introduced Lord Clement Jones, Digital Inclusion APPG Officer and Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for the Digital Economy.

Lord Clement-Jones opened his remarks noting that the common theme of the roundtable debate had been that AI isn’t suddenly a problem or indeed the solution, and that there are far more long run trends at play. The issue AI represents is something which is far more structural, he said. AI, Lord Clement-Jones suggested is representative of the wider digital divide and the importance of taking steps to correct it.

He next argued that Government legislation and strategy is somewhat out of step with these debates. He emphasised that the AI roadmap, which referenced the importance of matching digital skills provision with AI evolution, is now three years old. Meanwhile, the last national strategy on digital inclusion was brought together ten years ago in 2014. Lord Clement-Jones noted that it is going to be essential for the next Government - whatever Party that is - to organise their digital or AI strategy around up-skilling and skills provision. He added there is also an often-overlooked direct relationship between AI investment and bottom-up growth in the economy; a relationship which has been thus-far neglected by Government. He then cited a recent ‘Education for 11-16 Year Olds Lords Committee’ report which found that the current system is failing teenagers, especially in relation to technical, digital and creative areas of study. Not equipping the next generation adequately enough to adapt to technological change could leave the UK desperately behind our competitors, he suggested.

Finally, Lord Clement-Jones added that in a world of fraud and deepfakes, investment in digital confidence and up-skilling is more important than ever. To allay concerns around these issues, the concept of strengthening people’s digital citizenship could be introduced.  An emboldened sense of digital citizenship combined with better teaching could be a vital part of a future Government’s strategy, he further posited. He finally noted that the issue could no longer remain on the peripheries of national debate - after all, a promise to hold inter-ministerial group meetings on the need for a digital strategy every six months is quite simply not enough.

Matt Warman MP thanked Lord Clement Jones as well as all of those who had spoken so far. He then opened up the floor to questions and contributions, asking Lord Lipsey to speak first.

Lord Lipsey’s opening remarks emphasised the importance of the topic at hand and the need for Government need to legislate as soon as possible. For example, interventions now could have potentially seismic effects on making future efficiency savings in the NHS, he noted. Lord Lipsey then expressed his concern about getting people to take interest in the issue, noting that very few Parliamentarians were active with the APPG. He suggested that he thought debates around digital inclusion suffered from a distinct communication problem. He then noted that it was vital that these debates become part of a broader electoral message at the next General Election.

Matt Warman MP thanked Lord Lipsey for his thoughts and noted how he largely agreed with him. He then explained that part of the rationale of changing the APPG’s name was to broaden its scope and communicate the problems around digital exclusion more effectively. He finished adding that he believed that there could be a lot of electoral success in investing in closing the digital skills divide, especially among swing voters, but that communication was key. Mr Warman MP then asked Co-Director of the Centre for Research in Social Policy at the University of Loughborough, Professor Abigail Davis, to speak.

Professor Davis opened her remarks, agreeing with Mr Warman MP that the APPG name change communicated the issue at hand better. Professor Davis then added that there was a crucial need for families to have the skills and money to access certain online services. This problem of access was inter-generational, she added. However, the crux of the debate around digital inclusion is intrinsically related to low incomes and poverty, she elaborated. As access to the internet becomes ever more monetized, people will always rationally choose necessities like food, water, and shelter, over data and those on lower incomes will increasingly lose out.

Matt Warman MP agreed that the majority of people are in fact rational and would thus instinctively choose essentials like food and water over being digitally included. However, he added that as policymakers, the APPG should let people make their own decisions and not overly interfere with personal choices on what they spend their money on. He then asked Beena Puri, Digital Innovation and Partnerships Lead at the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, to speak.

Beena Puri first pointed out that a 2023 House of Lords report on digital exclusion shows that we need to have digital skills included in any new technology strategy. In fact, she pointed out that digital skills training should be integrated at a wider systems level, with separate action plans for skills provision in private industry, public services and the levelling up agenda. This more holistic approach to digital skills provision would constitute a more joint-up policy framework that could sit across various Government Departments.

Beena also noted that digital exclusion is an evolving and changing phenomenon that affects people in the UK in different ways, depending on their location, age, gender or class. For instance, one in five residents in Greater Manchester live in social housing and would require more tailored support than richer communities would need. Beena concluded by saying that bespoke regionally focussed solutions are required to reduce digital exclusion, but that the body of this approach needs to be guided by a broader, overarching national direction from the Government.

Matt Warman MP thanked Beena for her contribution and stated the importance of a decentralized approach. He then asked Chair of BCS Digital Divide Specialist Group Freddie Quek, CEO of the Digital Poverty Alliance, Elizabeth Anderson and Regulatory & Trade Director at Community Fibre Tim Stranack to speak.

Freddie Quek opened his remarks noting that it was imperative that any national digital strategy had to include funding provisions for training skills and support. He then emphasised that the larger digital strategy and the implementation of digital skills training on the ground level cannot be treated as separate entities. He concluded saying that to improve the accessibility of new technologies, any future digital strategy had to include and consult the Higher Education sector.

Next, Elizabeth Anderson began by stating the exclusionary impacts technological growth had on the employment market, noting that 90% jobs in the UK are only advertised online. She argued this exclusion was cyclical – for example if someone doesn’t have regular access to a functional laptop, how can they be expected to write a good and up to date CV to apply to these very jobs. She then noted that one in seven people in the UK currently live in some form of digital poverty, with this rate lowering to one in two in the lowest income brackets. The ongoing cost of living crisis was clearly accentuating the negative effects of the digital divide, she said. She continued by noting how to correct this, the Government had to be innovative and use their convening power to make sure that the promise to close the digital divide was prioritised across all departments. She then pointed to the tangible economic benefits of investing in digital skills, noting a £17bn skills premium if the digital skills potential of the population was realised. The benefits extend beyond the economy however, and Elizabeth noted that 25,000 lives could be saved if the digital skills divide was closed as it could vastly help older people better understand their health literacy. She also noted the worrying effects that digital skills exclusion could have on teaching outcomes, referencing a study which found that 24% of teachers felt their lack of online skills was a barrier to teaching. She concluded noting that there remains no requirement in the QTS (Qualified Teacher Status) to be digitally capable and confident.

Next, Tim Stranack argued that the challenge of digital exclusion has always been about helping people. He then called on industry and government to better work together and identify which communities in the UK need help most.

Matt Warman MP then had to vacate his position as Chair as he had to attend an urgent meeting. He asked Lord Clement-Jones to chair the remainder of the session. Lord Clement-Jones then asked Professor of Digital Culture, Communication and Media at the University of Liverpool, Simeon Yates, Head of Business, Commercial and Skills at Enterprise M3 Board Sally Thompson and Senior Advisor to the Knowledge for Healthcare Programme at Health Education England Sue-Lacey Bryant to speak.

Professor Yates began stating his disappointment that no Department for Education representative was present at the event and suggested that the need to incorporate the digital skills agenda into the wider education system was imperative. Professor Yates emphasised that children’s digital competency needed be taught in schools across the country – and cited Finland’s model as a world leader. He also noted that it was essential that parents were also incorporated into any digital inclusion strategy. Commenting more broadly on the need for a digital inclusion strategy, Simeon defined what digital citizenship meant, suggesting it was the ability to confidently express one’s rights in online spaces. To achieve a wider sense of digital citizenship in the UK, Professor Yates called on companies to help produce a robust regulatory framework in the space.  

Sally Thompson started by suggesting that internet connectivity should be a codified human right, like water, shelter and food. She argued that it was no longer acceptable to see digital inclusion as an option and it had to be a mandatory and codified right. To achieve this, Sally suggested, Government could flex and adapt the apprenticeship levy so that teachers can teach students digital skills better in schools to match the needs of their local economy.  

Sue Lacey-Bryant introduced her segment by saying that in the NHS they are still awaiting a national strategy on digital inclusion to provide a sense of wider direction. She noted that work is being done on the ground in hospitals up and down the country by GPs, consultants and nurses to attempt digital upskilling. However, she subsequently noted that a large majority of this upskilling is volunteer-led and more is needed to be done to expand it across the whole NHS. For instance, currently in the health service, it is unreasonable to expect volunteers to teach complex data skills and legislation around data privacy without a national programme guiding them. Sue then said that community resources are being systematically stripped from the NHS and the wider public sphere. This will have an extremely worrying effect on digital inclusion, she argued, as the best way to digitally level up is to make the resources available to do so, community curated and driven.  She finished by noting that more needs to be done to protect those who rely on the state for connectivity. For example, people who have to use shared computers in libraries or community centres have their data stored on public facing devices, with next to no protection. Protecting those most vulnerable to technological advancement, (especially in relation to the NHS) needs to be included in the next digital strategy, she concluded.

Lord Clement-Jones asked Advocacy Manager at the Good Things Foundation, Hannah Whelan, UKI Responsible Business Lead at Accenture, Mohini Rao, Policy Researcher at Careful Trouble, Tom McGrath and Digital Inclusion Manager at the Phoenix Group Dianne Webb to provide their thoughts.

Hannah Whelan from Good Things Foundation briefly noted that the UK’s demographics were changing at a rapid pace. More needed to be done to address specific groups who are increasingly excluded due to these changing demographics, such as poorer people, the elderly, certain minority groups and those with disabilities.

Mohini Rao started by saying that as a society we cannot underestimate the scale of change that’s about to happen with technology, and more specifically with AI. Artificial Intelligence as a resource is not one that evolves incrementally, and it can change fundamentally on a day-to-day basis. For example, she noted that the new demographic changes which Hannah Whelan referred to may likely be accentuated by newer forms of generative AI evolving at an unprecedented rate. She caveated this however saying that generative AI as a resource has the potential to help people in their jobs, for example with admin-based efficiency savings, but that direction was needed at a national level to ensure this. The Government needs to help businesses invest in their immediate communities, she added. For example, she noted that the introduction of a ‘Social Value Act’ could be a crucial way to get vital business investment into areas where there are high numbers of those groups vulnerable to technological change.   

Tom McGrath introduced his section, disagreeing with Mohini Rao, arguing that the benefits of AI are somewhat of a distraction in the national discourse. AI can be inaccurate, biased and damaging environmentally, he said. Fundamentally it can be harmful to a wide range of vulnerable communities and Governments and business across the world risk entrenching these harms if they do not act now. Tom subsequently argued that if AI is going to work it should be geared towards improving the lives of the 8 billion people around the world, not just the 8 billionaires responsible for bankrolling it – through health, educational and social benefits. He then briefly cited three actionable solutions which could help reduce the potential harmful effects of AI. Firstly, there needs to be a better national definition of what data connectivity is - currently, the definition of being ‘online’ is using the internet just once every three months. Secondly, in the skills domain, we need to transition to a community or person-centred approach which appreciates local perspectives and circumstances. Finally, internet access needs to be declared as an essential utility.

Diane Webb very briefly thanked the APPG for inviting her to listen to the discussion, which she said she found incredibly insightful. She noted that there is a huge opportunity for Phoenix Group to help the APPG identify which communities on a local level are being excluded and come up with strategies to help explain the benefits of being connected to the wider population.   

Lord Clement Jones thanked everyone for attending the meeting, which he noted had been successful and incredibly useful.