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Articles Build it and they will come... "Build it and they will come..." No, not Kevin Costner but transformational government, and its field of online dreams. With 92% of public services now on the net, t (née e) government is pretty much up and running. But in focussing on building the technology, it's lost sight of the audience. The truth is people won't come. And it's the people who can't or won't come to t-government who stand in most need of public services - the socially disadvantaged. Yes, folks, it's Digital Divide - The Sequel. It's back and this time it's personal. The digital divide? Again? And you thought Field of Dreams was dredging-up the past. But digital exclusion has moved on, and it's now intrinsically linked with social exclusion. Without technology and the skills to use it, people aren't just excluded from t-government, but from internet deals, online communications and 90% of all new jobs. It's time to stop dreaming and wake up to the fact that while ICT offers opportunity and choice - a government buzzword - it's still not a choice everyone can make. The gap between the have-nets and have-nots is bigger and uglier than ever - so where do we go from here? Having created the systems, it's not enough to sit back and wait for a nation of digital citizens to emerge, dazzled, out of the cornfields, and start playing for the t-gov team. As more public services move from face-to-face to online channels, we need to ensure they're reaching socially disadvantaged people. At UK online centres, we've just completed research which suggests in order to create the elusive e-citizen, we need t-government coaches. The research analyses a pilot in the South West which saw UK online centres team-up with selected local and central government websites to support people in using them. Those most in need of a helping hand had a 'social need' to contact government - housing, pension or benefit enquiries, job or course search information. 97% were reassured just by having UK online centre staff around supporting their first online transactions. Six months later, follow-up found 45% had continued to find useful t-government information, 18% had enrolled on a course - and 9% had gone on to get a new job. The benefits of offering support in using diverse services under a single roof - to the individual, to government, to society and to the economy - should not be underrated. Our research estimates 6.6m people are both digitally and socially excluded, and it's time the credits rolled on the digital divide and we closed the gap for good. The good news is the structure and systems are already in place. The 6,000 UK online centres across England are already working with communities t-government needs to target. They're ready and willing to be the stepping-stone between citizen and state, digital and personal, and coach new digital citizens. The bad news is while government recognises the need to address digital exclusion in future t-government strategy - and even the role of intermediaries in doing so - things still aren't moving far or fast enough. The rhetoric must be followed by action, because this isn't just about technology - it's about people's lives and life chances. I believe engaging people online can re-engage them with society. Let's make certain everyone has an equal opportunity to contact government and equal choice in how they do so. When it comes to convenient access to t-government, everyone deserves the chance of a Hollywood happy ending. Helen Milner
Managing Director
UK online centres
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