The Government has appointed a new industry body to drive the uptake of broadband and digital television after research revealed the existence of a hardcore of refuseniks that refuse to embrace new technologies.
The Alliance for Digital Inclusion will work to find new ways to include those currently not using the internet and other new technologies after the Enabling a Digitally United Kingdom report found that a staggering 48% of the population is ‘digitally disengaged’.
The ADI comprises several charities and technology firms, including Citizens Online, BT, AOL, Microsoft and Intel. The group will target those deemed most at risk from digital exclusion, including old people, the unemployed, disabled people and those from lower socio-economic groups.
Cabinet Office minister, Ruth Kelly, explained the need for a dedicated group to increase take-up. She said: “We need to develop a much better understanding of context – how people live their lives and how they can use technologies to improve their lives.”
She added: “For older people, the integration of electronic and traditional health and social services may be a driver for digital take-up. And for people from lower socio-economic groups, education, housing and employment represent potential powerful drivers for digital take-up.”
While the take up of new technology amongst certain minority groups has been slow, recent research has shown that many of the UK’s residents have embraced the latest technological developments. In particular Britain has emerged as one of the fastest growing markets for broadband internet access, with research showing that more than one in five of every UK households now has a broadband connection (see One In Five UK Homes Now Have Broadband Access).
Similarly, around 55% of all UK households now receive digital television, up from 53% at the beginning of the year, according to figures from communications regulator Ofcom. The growth has been largely due to Freeview, enabling low-cost multi-channel viewing, and has been boosted by a wide-spread public awareness campaign promoting the benefits of digital terrestrial television (see Multi-Channel Television Statistics Q2 2004).
The number of digital enabled homes in Europe is set to continue growing, with Juniper Research predicting that there will be nearly 55 million (55%) households with some form of digital television in the European Union by 2009.
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