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Day makes dent in digital divide 

Fifteen years after the world wide web started making world wide waves, one day last month saw more than 10,000 people dipping their toes into online waters.

While it might seem like everyone’s surfing, emailing or social networking, some 40% of the population remain firmly offline. They were the target of the first nation-wide Get online day, which took place on Friday 12 October as part of National Family Learning Week.

Hundreds of Get online day events took place at UK online centres across England, and at least one in eight of visitors made it their excuse to take their very first steps onto the internet. For others it was a chance to get to know the web a bit better, and find out more about how being online could benefit them – and save them time, money and hassle in everyday family life.

Get online day, a UK online centres campaign, was supported by the Campaign for Learning (which co-ordinates Family Learning Week nationally), Intel, PC World and BT. Around half of Get online day visitors were completely new to UK online centres, and 80% said it had increased their confidence in being online. One month on from the Day itself, on average visitors reckon they’ve already saved around £50, and at least two hours of time, as result of their new-found web skills. Most importantly, 98% of those who took part enjoyed the day and intend to keep on using the internet in the future.

Helen Milner, Managing Director of UK online centres said: "The digital divide is still very much alive and kicking, and while it isn’t going to disappear in a day, I’d like to think that in a mere 24 hours Get online day made something of a dent. A first foray online or an increase in computer-confidence might seem a small step, but for the previously digitally-dismissive, web-wary or just the online-unadventurous, it’s a huge leap forwards.”

Tricia Hartley, Joint Chief Executive of the Campaign for Learning added:“The internet is an important resource for families in so many ways - from helping children with homework to supervising them online, keeping in touch with friends, family and community support systems to looking up information on anything from family health to family holidays. Yet 1 in 12 households don’t have access to a computer, a mobile phone or an internet connection. Get online day encouraged some of those households online, and helped them find out what their family could get out of the internet. That’s a great result, and just what Family Learning Week is all about.”

For industry sponsors Intel, tacking digital exclusion is key in moving technology forwards. Tristan Wilkinson, Intel’s Enterprise Director, explained:“UK online centres’ Get online day is just one of the inclusion initiatives we support. There are often multiple factors at work in digital exclusion – from income to age, confidence to attitude. Overcoming those barriers, targeting, motivating and supporting people to use technology is vital if everyone is to have an equal chance to make the most of the information, benefits and opportunities it can provide.”

One person who found out more about family sites and services on Get online day was Bebe Shakur, 50, from Croydon. She went along to an event at Thornton Heath Library, took up the Family Web Challenge, and won a state-of-the-art computer, printer and internet connection in the prize-draw, donated by PC World and BT. She said: “I’m a regular at the library, and when the tutor told me about Get online day I thought, ‘Why not?’ I took my six year-old son, Tariq, along – he knows far more about computers than me!  We had great fun, the tutors were really supportive, and I learned loads about all sorts of services I’ve never used before. Tariq’s got asthma and a number of food allergies, so I was particularly interested in the bit about NHS Choices - I could immediately see how useful it would be looking up health information and tips. Since going into the UK online centre I’ve already come on leaps and bounds. There’s so much information out there, and now I’ve got the skills, confidence – and even a new computer – to help me access it all!”

Helen concluded: “While technology might have permeated many of our lives, there’s still a significant job to do to make it do the same for a significant number of people. Make no mistake, persuading those still on the wrong side of the digital divide to get online isn’t an easy task, and there are no quick fixes. This is the first nation-wide campaign for UK online centres, and the first time we’ve tried to harness cross-sector support for digital inclusion in a single push. I believe working together and consistently hammering away is the only way to do more than dent the surface, and make a sustainable impact on an increasingly complex digital divide.”

For more information about this press release, please contact Abi Stevens on 0778 666 0689 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Notes to Editors