A new report from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) reveals that despite the increasingly connected society we live in, some people are being left behind by our advance into the digital era.
The
Focus On The Digital Age report draws together information about ownership and use of information and communications technology (ICT).
The report demonstrates how technologies are transforming homes and businesses and highlights the digital divide.
In the home, almost half (45%) of households in Great Britain had internet access, a digital TV service and one or more mobile phones in 2006. However, one in 12 households (8%) did not have access to any of these.
Household adoption of ICT has been rapid, particularly among the young and those in the labour market, but much slower among older people.
In 2006, 55% of people aged 50 or over in Great Britain had not used a computer in the previous three months. For those aged 16 to 30, the figure was 13%.
ICT ownership and use is also closely linked to household income, says the ONS. While more than 90% of households in the highest income group in the UK had internet access in 2005-06, the figure for those on lower incomes was under 20%.
The proportion of households in the UK receiving a digital TV service grew from 19% in 1996-97 to 65% in 2005-06.
This change gives households access to a range of new services – 33% of households in Great Britain with a TV could take part in game shows and 28% could buy products through shopping channels in July 2005. However, only 7% and 5% respectively had taken advantage of these services.
The ONS says that ICT use in the UK has advanced to put the UK above the EU average in most areas, with 44% of UK households having a broadband connection in 2006, well above the EU average (32%) but still only two-thirds of the rate in the Netherlands.
Recent research from the insurance company AXA showed that, for Britain’s pensioners, the internet is overtaking more traditional pastimes such as DIY and gardening (see Britain’s Pensioners Becoming Silver Surfers).
In other research, comScore Networks revealed that 747 million people, age 15+, used the internet worldwide in January 2007, a 10% increase versus January 2006 (see Worldwide Internet Usage Increases).
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