10 million adults in the UK have never been online, amounting to over a fifth of the population. Four million are also society’s least advantaged. 39% are over 65, 38% are unemployed and 19% are families with children. In her role as the UK Digital Champion, Martha Lane Fox and her team at Race Online 2012 focus on encouraging as many people as possible to go online and improve the convenience and efficiency of public services by driving online delivery. Together, they provide a rallying cry for us all to create a truly networked nation – a chance to make the UK one of the first developed countries in the world to achieve near-total internet use by 2012.
FAQs
Please find below a list of frequently asked questions. If you can't find the answer you're looking for contact us.
Race Online 2012
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Technology links us together like never before. The UK has 40 million adult internet users, with 30 million people using the web every day. The 10 million people in the UK who have never been online are already missing out on big consumer savings, access to information and education. They will be even more isolated and disadvantaged as government and industry expand ever faster into digital-only services. We must change our mindset from one that shields people from using the internet to one that helps empower them to get online and enjoy all the benefits.
‘It is often the people facing the toughest times who have the most to gain from what technology has to offer and as the internet is rapidly becoming a tool for everyday life, we should work together to make sure everyone can benefit.’
Martha Lane Fox - UK Digital Champion -
Race Online 2012 presents a challenge for all of us in the UK to work together to build a country where everyone has access to the transformative power of the internet. It is a rallying cry to create a truly networked nation – a chance to make the UK one of the first developed countries in the world to achieve near-total internet use by 2012. By the end of this parliament we endeavour to make sure everyone of working age should be online and no one should retire without web skills. This would be an Olympic legacy that will benefit all of us.
Years of research indicate that the same three reasons prevent more people getting online, lack of motivation, access or skills. We aim to inspire more people to go online, to encourage people to go online, rewarding them for doing so and to support those who need a helping hand. We are calling upon industry, competing for more online customers, Government, needing to deliver better for less and charities, wanting to better support the people they help. We are encouraging them to act as a collective force to deliver positive social change.
40 million adults in the UK already use the web. If a fraction of us chose to share those skills, exploiting our existing network of community access points, we could inspire and support millions more to try the internet for the first time. We are aiming to sign up 10,000 partner organisations and individual advocates to help us achieve our goal. Can you help? Join us now
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Martha is the UK’s Digital Champion, her goal is to help the 10 million people who have never used the internet experience the benefits of what it has to offer. She also co-founded Lucky Voice and Antigone and is a non-executive director at Marks & Spencer, Channel 4 and Mydeco.com.
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Our target group are the 10 million adults in the UK who have never been online, particularly the 4 million people who are also the most socially and digitally excluded.
Of these 4 million adults:
39% are over 65, 38% are unemployed and 19% are families with children.
High quality digital public services can empower individuals and save Government money. If the 10 million people in the UK who have never had access to the internet got online, the potential savings for the UK economy would amount to £22bn.
Here’s how those over 65, those who are unemployed and families with children would benefit:
There are 6.4 million over-65s in the UK who have never used the internet and they are most likely to be offline because they don’t think the internet is for them — but being online can bring older people and the service providers who support them a huge range of benefits. Average household savings of £560 a year can be made by shopping and paying bills online. Getting online helps unemployed adults find work faster and could reduce benefit expenditure
There are 1.5 million unemployed people in the UK who claim Jobseekers Allowance (JSA), of whom an estimated 270,000 do not currently use the internet. They claim an estimated £0.8 billion a year. More than 90% of all new jobs require basic internet skills and there are many new job opportunities advertised online: approximately seven million job adverts were placed online last year, with some advertised solely online and only accepting internet applications. PwC estimate that if just 3.5% of offline jobseekers found work more quickly by being online it would increase each of their lifetime earnings by £12,430, and bring total benefits to the UK economy of £566m a year.
For children, being online at home improves attainment, helps parents engage with their children’s schooling and cuts administration costs for schools. It also helps confidence and eventually improves employability. PwC estimate that increases in educational attainment if all children of school age were online at home could result in a lifetime increase in earnings of £10.5bn.
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In June 2010 the new Government reappointed Martha Lane Fox as the UK Digital Champion, asking her to ‘focus on encouraging as many people as possible to go online and improving the convenience and efficiency of public services by driving online delivery.’ Supported by the Cabinet Office and as part of the Efficiency Board, the role is to advise and challenge the Government, the wider public sector and industry on ‘making faster progress on getting more people and services online.’
In her remit, Martha was asked to:
- Continue the Race Online 2012 campaign to encourage as many people as possible to get online.
- Advise the Government on how efficiencies can be best realised through the online public delivery of services.
- Lead work to drive efficiencies through the greater use of online services across government, including the transformation of Directgov.
For more information, read our Manifesto for a Networked Nation
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Race Online 2012 is a challenge for all of us in the UK to work together to build a country where everyone has access to the transformative power of the internet.
We aim to inspire more people to go online, to encourage people to go online and reward them for doing so and to support those who need a helping hand.There are 10 million adults in the UK who have never used the internet – the combined size of the entire population of our five biggest cities. Four million of those are among the most disadvantaged: 39% are over 65, 38% are unemployed and 19% are families with children.
We are calling for urgent action to get millions more people online by the end of the Olympic year 2012, through partnership with government, industry, charities and individuals.We want to build a UK of near-universal web literacy by the time of the Olympics, with access as easy and affordable as water, electricity or gas and skills considered as fundamental as literacy and numeracy: our ambition is to get everyone of working-age online by the end of this Parliament.
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Race Online 2012 is Government funded but independent, set up by Martha Lane Fox to support her work as the UK Digital Champion.
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Our partners come from a range of backgrounds including not-for-profit, government and industry. All our partners are committed to the digital inclusion agenda. Together we aim to inspire real change: our first step is to work as an intelligent hub of information and resources, to match-make people with the skills and resources with those that need their knowledge and funds. We’ll work with some core national and local partners to ensure improved quality and sufficient scale, of free or low-cost access and training in disadvantaged communities.
To become a partner requires a real commitment to reach the 10 million people in the UK who have never even been online. We also seek support for the volunteering programme that will be a key component of our campaign.
If you're interested in becoming a partner, Join Us Now
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We've set out to reach as many of the people who have never accessed the web as possible by partnering with organisations, from high-street brands like McDonald's and employers like Sky or Sainsbury's, through to local government and third sector organisations like Age UK.
We recognise this 'pledge model' is a bit of a blunt tool and may lead to some duplication on numbers, but strongly believe it is only through building real momentum around this issue that we will gather the visibility and upswing in civic action that we need to crack this. We work with our top tier partners to ensure they are meeting their targets and we are resting on the goodwill of smaller organisations to report impact honestly.
Having said that, we do look at a range of measures to monitor the sucess of what is happening. These include, but are not limited to:
1. Pass IT on and myguide registration for B2C activity/number of partners.
2. Our website database for B2B activity.
3. We publish Promises in Action on our website. These relate how partners are fulfilling their promises. Have a look at some of our Promises in Action.
4. ONS figures published on a quarterly basis showing changes in the uptake of Internet usage. The next figures will be published in August.
You can find out more about recent figures by visiting the home page and looking at the partner counter. Embed our partner counter widget into your website. It automatically updates as more partners sign up and shows how many people they have pledged to help get online.
Become a Partner
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The Race Online 2012 is primarily a business-to-business (B2B) campaign. Becoming a Race Online 2012 Official Partner is easy. Any organisation of any size can make a contribution. Big or small, your promise could make a real difference. Lack of motivation, access and skills are the key reasons why people don’t get online. Inspiring people and nudging them towards trying the internet for the first time is vital. If your organisation can do something to help, join us now. (Alternatively, you can also Tell your Boss. Sign up to Tell your Boss and we will do the rest.)
- Find out the social and economic reasons why we should work together to build a country where everyone has access to the transformative power of the internet.
- Don't forget to have a look at our partner toolkit where you can find lots of resources to help you with your promise. We'd also love to hear about all you're doing. If you'd like to tell us how you're putting your partner promise into action, get in touch.
Your promise is completed is 3 easy steps:
Step 1. Make Your Promise
Select an action from the list - you will then be told what that action involves. If you want to do it, click the ‘I want to do this’ arrow in the middle of the screen. The page will then expand and the action will be added to your partner promise on the form below. Repeat this until you have chosen all the actions you want to do. Fill in a few basic details so that we can send you an Official Partner certificate, a thank you note and details of our Race Online Toolkits. Don't forget to accept the T's and C's, before clicking 'next'.
Step 2. Extra Info
You'll be asked to fill in some more information. Don't worry if you don't want to - we just want to capture some data to take a look at demographics and produce some stats.Step 3. Share
We are trying to get 10,000 partners on board, so it would be great if you could tell your friends, customers, stakeholders and partners about us!If you aren't part of an organisation, you can also take part in our campaign. 10 million people in the UK are not currently online and for us to help, we need individuals as well as organisations to help spread the word and support Race Online 2012. Becoming an advocate only takes a couple of minutes and will provide you with information and tools which could really make a difference. Become an advocate.
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Can the Race Online 2012 campaign shine a light on your work? Please contact us with information about local or national initiatives you believe warrant more media attention or that you believe policy-makers should be aware of. Our team travels the country to find out about what works and why. We welcome the opportunity to hear from grassroots practitioners, local authority staffers, educationalists, technologists, academics and business people who could be potential Race Online 2012 Official Partners.
We also publish Promises in Action on our website. If you'd like to share how you're fulfilling your partner promise, why not get in touch?
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There are loads of great things you can do. Here are a few ideas:
- Get involved and become a partner. We are aiming for 10,000 partner organisations from all sectors to help. Any organisation of any size can make a contribution. (You can also sign up to Tell Your Boss. Give us the details and we'll do the rest.)
- Become an Advocate for our campaign. The work of individuals is vital and this is a great way to be kept up to date with what we're doing and for receiving useful hints and tips.
- Lobby for digital inclusion to be embedded across all government departments and provision of social care.
- Encourage all Local Authorities and MPs to match the best local efforts at promoting Race Online 2012.
- Use all your media and communication channels to support and raise awareness of the campaign. (Don't forget, you can follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.)
- Support the launch of a national inter-generational and peer-to-peer volunteering and mentoring programme by promoting it within your workforce and opening up your infrastructure.
- Support existing and new programmes helping digitally and excluded adults.
- Support grassroots charities and community organisations use of technology in their provision of social care.
- Encourage the uptake of innovative tools and applications to help our target groups.
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We are a small team and are unable to test or endorse specific products but please feel free to use our network to inform others in the field about your product.
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There are a number of commercial organisations, government agencies and charitable foundations that currently award grants for projects related to digital inclusion: at Race Online 2012 we will do everything we can to encourage these bodies to do more, especially in providing more support to local authorities and charities that have strong existing relationships with our target groups. Please check our partner page for details of these partners and their projects. We will also feature details of current grants on our blog, Twitter feed and Facebook group.
A great place to start is the UK online centres website http://www.ukonlinecentres.com. UK online centres were established by the government in 2000 as part of a wider 'UK online' initiative. For public access points for people in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, here are some details:
Wales
learndirect – 0800 101 901 or www.learndirect.co.uk
Communities@one – 029 2055 6950 or info@communitiesatone.org
Scotland
Learndirect scotland – 0808 100 9000
Northern Ireland
Digital Inclusion Unit Northern Ireland Executive
Basil Davidson, 028 908 16019 or basil.davidson@dfpni.gov.uk
If you work with digitally and socially excluded people but aren't part of the UK online centres network, now is the time to think about becoming a member. See our partners page for more info on UK online centres or visit the UK online centres website.
For more information about funding sources, the below links should get you started:
Grants from the Ofcom Digital Participation Fund - £12m in Ofcom funding, are available. The application form can be found here.
Nominet aims to support distinctive and inventive internet-related projects that can make a difference to people, primarily in the areas of education, online safety and inclusion. For further information please call 01865 334000.
Sustainable Funding Project is a first-stop shop helping voluntary organisations explore a full range of funding options to develop a sustainable funding mix. It is part of NCVO. It promotes thorough organisational planning, grant diversification and income generation as three key means of enhancing organisational financial stability.
Fit for Funding, from the Charities Information Bureau, provides advice via the web for community groups and voluntary organisations who are seeking funding.
Funding Central is a free smart website for all third sector organisations, including community groups, providing access to thousands of funding and finance opportunities, plus a wealth of tools and resources supporting organisations to develop sustainable income strategies appropriate to their needs.
Directory of Social Change publishes independent and well-researched books for the charity and voluntary sector covering charity fundraising, campaigning, finance, charity law, management, media and marketing.
ACF (Association of Charitable Foundations) gives details of member sites
Open4Funding works with local council web-sites to provide facilities for charities and community groups to find relevant funding sources.
Funders with useful web sites:
BT Community Connections is a UK-wide awards scheme to e-enable local community projects. Awards of internet-ready computers are made to individuals or groups who wish to make a positive impact in their community. There is an online application form.The Community Foundation Network promotes local 'endowment funds' by pooling donations that will generate ongoing income, for local grant-making.
The Difference Engine is offering £20,000 for digital startups. It is a full time 13 week acceleration programme which combines investment capital of £20,000 (for 8% of the business) with mentoring, support and office accommodation with various other services.
Esmée Fairbairn Charitable Trust makes grants in five sectors: arts and heritage, education, environment, social and economic research and social welfare.
Lloyds TSB Foundations application forms can be downloaded from the website, which also has application guidelines. Also see Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland; Lloyds TSB Foundation for NI.
Voluntary Action Fund, an independent grant making trust, gives grants to, and works with, local voluntary organisations in Scotland.
Governmental/agency:
CDF is the leading source of community development expertise and delivery. As a public body and a charity they bridge government, communities and the voluntary sector.The Voluntary and Community Sector Funding Portal, also known as the Government Funding website has been developed by the Directory of Social Change. The DSC is a registered charity which provides a wide variety of information and training for the voluntary and community sector. This site aims to provide 'a common point of access to Government grant funding for the voluntary and community sector and includes funding guidance.
Welsh Assembly Government grants guide are available via voluntary sector pages. Some of the Assembly Government’s money is made available by way of grants to fund schemes and initiatives that are in line with the Welsh Assembly Government’s agenda. Each grant will have its own set of criteria which applicants must meet in order for applications to be considered.
Visit the Government Funding Database for Northern Ireland governmental grants for further information on grants available to voluntary and community organisations.
Lottery related:
Awards for All - a Lottery grants scheme funding small, local community-based projects in the UK. Each country is running its own programme.
Big Lottery Fund can be a good funding source for certain groups – its main aim is "to help meet the needs of those at greatest disadvantage in society and to improve the quality of life in the community". Use their funding finder for different areas of the UK.
The Department of Culture, Media & Sport's Lottery site has info on the distributing bodies and an awards search facility.
Lottery Good Causes is an umbrella site for all the lottery funded grant schemes.
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The digital divide is rapidly increasing social, economic and educational disadvantage. It must be addressed if take-up of online public services is to reach near 100 per cent by 2014, as set out in the Smarter Government White Paper. There are some simple and practical steps that can be taken in the short term that will have immediate and growing impact. The DCSF, Communities and Local Government, DC10plus, the Digital Inclusion Team and the Digital Inclusion Advisors have compliled a list of actions local authorities could take. Click here to find out more. Alternatively, have a look at our Local Authority Toolkit.
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Don’t worry if the details you supplied Race Online 2012 are no longer correct. Simply fill in the form on our contact us page and we’ll do the rest.
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As a Race Online 2012 Official Partner, you will be part of an incredible cross-sector movement working to build a country where everyone has access to the transformative power of the internet. We can all make a difference if we work together – with that in mind we have developed a partner toolkit containing downloadable products, a campaign in a box toolkit, full communication support packs, media release templates, Martha Lane Fox quotes, template emails, content for intranet/internet sites, an Official Partner certificate and a white label Pass IT on toolkit that can be rebranded as if it were your own!
Once you have become a Race Online 2012 Official Partner we will also publicise your organisation and promise on our Our Partners page and Google Map. (If your organisation is not appearing, it might be because you haven't submitted your postcode. Send us your postcode.) Once you've become a partner, if you'd like to tell us about how you've put your partner promise into action, why not get in touch? These act as inspiration for others and are a great way to highlight all the great work you've been doing.
How to Volunteer
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Become a Race Online 2012 Official Partner and commit to do something that will significantly impact the lives of the ten million people in the UK who are currently offline.
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Volunteering is one of the most rewarding ways you can make a real difference to people living in the toughest circumstances. Most people volunteer because they want to give something back and find they get much more in return. With so many different volunteering opportunities on offer, there's bound to be something to suit you.
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As an individual, you can make a real difference helping people you know experience the benefits of the internet. You can do this any time - so why not start now!
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The Association of Volunteer Managers (AVM) is an independent body that aims to support, represent and champion people who manage volunteers in England regardless of field, discipline or sector. It has been set up by and for people who manage volunteers.
If you manage, co-ordinate or administer volunteers or volunteer programmes, directly or indirectly, then this is the Association for you.
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If you are looking to set up your own voluntary group, or are looking for advice on working with volunteers please see the resources listed below:
Local Council for Voluntary Service offering support
Advice and Guidance on Volunteering
General Guide to volunteering
Various Publications and advice guides
Consultancy service to help organisations develop volunteering
Advice on using the media to recruit volunteers -
We are a small team and do not directly engage in service delivery; our role is to create awareness and shine a light on partner activity. Therefore we do not ourselves run corporate volunteering schemes. However, we can signpost you to resources and collateral which will help you to suggest options to your corporate volunteers.
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- Volunteering to help people experience the benefits of the internet can be a popular option, because it is satisfying and fun to assist a person on that journey.
- The easiest way for volunteers to do this is to inspire someone they already know, who does not yet use the internet, and to try it out together.
- Otherwise, your volunteers need to understand that unless specific events are organised which people are encouraged to attend, there will not be a location where a volunteer can simply go and find people waiting for assistance to get to know the internet. This applies to public libraries, UK online centres or local community centres, which offer free access to the internet.
- So, since employees will typically have only a couple of days a year under a corporate volunteering programme, it makes more sense for them to get involved in an organised event instead, or to use their expertise in mentoring people who manage such centres. These options are described in more detail below.
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It also means that a valid volunteering effort is also in helping to organise such events, including to generate demand amongst people who haven’t used the internet, e.g. in assisting with local PR, leafleting, producing/distributing letterbox flyers, contacting local newspapers or community radio, etc.
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Depending on the formality of your corporate volunteering framework, there are different options available to your corporate volunteers to work towards a UK which is as nearly as possible 100% connected by the time of the London Olympics. Your first step is always to sign up as Race Online 2012 partner.
1. If your framework is less formal, then you can encourage your employees to use their volunteering day(s) to help Pass IT on to people they know: friends, family or neighbours. Resources to help do this are freely available, for example at www.helppassiton.co.uk. This is the simplest and easiest way to volunteer to help people get online, and recognises that individual peer to peer support is the most effective way to help people experience the benefits of the internet. We recommend this approach.
2. If your corporate volunteering framework is more formal, which will often be the case, then there are opportunities for your volunteers to be creative about what they do, either as individuals, or together in a team.
• As an individual, your volunteer can find a local event in the context of Silver Surfer’s Day, Get Online Week or itea and biscuits for example, and contact the organiser directly to see if assistance is required, either helping with preparations, on the day itself or both. The Silver Surfer’s Day website includes a postcode search for example, so it is easy to find a local event and then contact the event holder well in advance to see what assistance is required. One large corporate partner took this approach and encouraged 200 staff to find local Silver Surfer’s day events and sign up as volunteers. Digital Unite, who organise Silver Surfer’s Day, was able to publicise this to eventholders in their regular newsletter as well.
• As an individual, or as a team, your volunteers can set up and run their own events. This can again be in the context of Silver Surfer’s Day, so that your volunteer team can benefit from national PR. The Silver Surfer’s Day site contains many resources for event management, including planning, publicising, preparation and the day itself. Your team will need to find a location, organise equipment and connectivity, generate interest for people to attend, and manage the event day itself. As a business, you could make IT training rooms available for example, to assist. Alternatively, you could assist by enabling your team of volunteers to use portable company equipment at an external public location. Alternatively, they could contact a local UK online centre (in England) or public library (UK wide) to see if the location/equipment can be borrowed for the event.• Where your volunteer, or team of volunteers, have existing contacts in their communities or with charities, it is worth exploring these from a digital inclusion perspective. For example, if your volunteer already works with a homeless charity, they will likely have outreach to people who have not used the internet. Your volunteer (team) could set up and run an event to help these people experience the benefits of the internet.
• Some corporate volunteering programmes involve people working as a team as part of leadership development. A digital inclusion initiative is a suitable challenge for this. Your team could design and deliver an initiative to help people who have never used the Internet before, in conjunction with local community organisations. Part of the challenge to the team is to come up with a creative solution to identify a suitable community (e.g. sheltered housing, ethnic or minority community, low-income area) and work with them to engage and inspire people who haven’t used the internet to try it out, perhaps on an event basis, ideally with a ‘leave behind’ for the community so that the work can continue. There is plenty of collateral to assist such a team and the skills benefit to them is clear, as there are aspects of project management, influencing, community engagement, logistics, event planning and technical assistance, all required to make the project a reality and help a target number of people get online.
3. Fully managed volunteering programmes
If your organisation is large, you could also consider partnering with service delivery providers such as UK online centres, Age UK or MLA (public libraries), to set up a specific programme offer for your corporate volunteers. Large or small, employee volunteering programmes can also be set up using the Do-it database, or managed by providers such as Timebank. When contacting such an organisation be clear that your goals are to help people experience the benefits of the internet. As an alternative to helping train people to use the internet, or setting up events, a valuable use of your volunteers’ time can be to deploy their expertise as subject matter experts, for example by mentoring providers’ management staff on HR, finance, marketing or governance. Success factors for such a managed programme include:
• Have clear ownership and strong nominated contacts both at the corporate and at the charity
• Develop and communicate a clear proposition for the volunteers, being specific about what they will do, who they will contact, when and where will the activity take place.
• If your proposition is about training people, ensure together with your partner that your volunteers themselves are given induction training about how best to approach the other person’s interests and skill levels, as well as how to use and access the online tools such as Pass IT on which are available on the www.helppassiton.co.uk website.
• Include the methods for evaluating the volunteers’ experience in the proposition up front, and consider including both qualitative and quantitative aspects.
• Introducing an element of competition amongst your volunteers or business areas is a particularly useful way of engaging your people, e.g. highest number of participants that attend an event run by your volunteers with a prize or recognition for the volunteers; top number of events run by a business area, again with a prize for that business area.
Getting Online
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UK Online centre UK Online is a network of 6000 learning spaces across England, which gives 2 million people access to computers and training every year from computer suites in centres in 84% of England’s deprived wards. UKO was set up in 2000 as one wing of the government’s University for Industry. Call UK Online free on 0800 77 1234 to find out the address and phone number of your nearest centre, or use the easy online postcode search facility in the right-hand column of their website.
Union Learn Union Learn exists to teach low-paid workers, shift workers, isolated workers and rural learners and delivers the internet communications technology course developed by LearnDirect. It has 20,000 trained union learning reps, and is also using mobiles and palmtop computers in its teaching. To contact Union Learn please call 020 7079 6920 or visit their website.
The Workers Education Association (WEA) The Workers Education Association (WEA), the largest voluntary sector provider of adult education in the UK, delivers a raft of first-steps ICT and social media courses and from December 2009 will get 100 unemployed adults to participate in a volunteering campaign to inspire communities in the East Midlands to engage with technology. To contact the WEA please call 020 7426 3450 or visit their website.
Digital Unite Digital Unite specialises in helping people over-50 use IT - from internet and email to social networking and blogs. They work with everyone from learners and trainers to public sector and private enterprises. Digital Unite can help you learn new digital skills, setup award winning training schemes for your community, teach and engage older users, and take part in the digital debate. To contact Digital Unite please call 0800 822 3951 or visit their website
The Home Access Programme Home Access is a new government programme targeting families that do not have access to a computer or the internet at home. If you are a low income family, you could qualify for a grant to buy a Home Access computer and/or at least one years’ internet access to help your child learn at home. To qualify, families must have a child in school years 3 – 9 who is entitled to receive free school meals which normally means the household having an annual income of less than £16,040. Children who are in foster care may also be eligible for a grant but must apply via their local authority. Families that do not qualify for a grant, are still able to buy a Home Access package from a range of well-known high-street retailers and approved firms. To find out more call 0333 200 1005 or visit their website
Local Libraries Follow this link to book internet access at your local library.
Set up an internet connection in your home There are two government-accredited companies to give you impartial advice on getting the best deal on fixed line, mobile broadband and digital television services:
1. Simplify Digital Further information is available on 0800 542 4704 or at their website
2. Broadband Choices Further information available at their website or by emailing enquire@consumerchoices.co.uk
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Yes – lots! Here’s a handful to get you started:
How to Buy the Best Laptop – Which Guide
Don’t have a Phone Line – Choosing and Using Mobile Broadband – Which Guide
Internet Buddy Guide – Getting a friend or relative online – Royal Mail
Help for Beginners – Digital Unite
Introduction to MyGuide – UKOnline Centres
Open University Guide to the Web
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The Government'sBroadband Universal Service Commitment is designed to ensure that virtually every community has access to 2Mbps connections by 2012.
In the short term, you may be interested to know that there are other ways of receiving broadband. For example, a growing number of consumers are taking up wireless and mobile broadband services. If you would like further information on these services, or would like to compare prices, you can visit the Ofcom website.
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There are a number of reasons why broadband speeds can vary. One main reason is that for most broadband customers the maximum speed available declines the further you are from the telephone exchange. Other factors which can affect broadband speeds include the quality of the customer’s line, the capacity of the ISP’s network, the number of subscribers sharing the network, and the number of people accessing a particular website.
The Digital Britain report also addresses the next generation access of super-fast broadband. Next generation access will replace existing telecoms networks meaning broadband speeds can be significantly increased. A monthly 50p charge on all landline users to finance super-fast broadband is something the Government will consult on. It is proposed that those on low-incomes will be exempt.
Further information on the Digital Britain report can be found here.
For more information on broadband speeds, take a look at Ofcom’s consumer guide. Ofcom will not respond to individual complaints, however they will record and monitor complaint levels. If they identify an area of concern they may then raise the matter with the management of the company directly.
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Get Safe Online is a joint initiative between HM Government, the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) and leading businesses, it aims to help individuals and micro-businesses to be safe online, and protect themselves against internet security risks. It is a neutral, unbiased and objective source of information and expert advice for everyone.
If you are looking for internet safety advice for young people or are a parent interested in your child's internet safety, the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) run a campaign called click clever, click safe which contains more information.
Partners
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Groupe intellex will run study tours for community leaders to Sweden and The Netherlands to learn about networking and online services. -
People-Centered Economic Development will help in their local community. -
GreySky Consulting will support events such as Get Online Week. It has secured £250,000 of funding to deliver broadband throughout rural Northumberland. -
Give Art will create its own task, setting up online gift registries to support emerging contemporary artists. -
Tariam will spread the word, informing family and friends of its customers to Pass IT on.
