WIREDGOV

Communities and Tackling Poverty Minister, Lesley Griffiths, has announced Wales Co-operative Centre will deliver a new £2 million digital inclusion programme across Wales.

Digital Communities Wales will build on the good work of the current programme, Communities 2.0, which comes to an end on 31 March 2015.

Over the past six years, the Welsh Government’s digital inclusion programme has helped over 60,000 people get online.  Despite good progress, 21% of adults in Wales remain digitally excluded. Digital Communities Wales will help address this by building on existing partnerships and co-ordinating digital inclusion activities in communities across Wales.

The new programme, which will run for an initial two years with the possibility of a two year extension, will be required to:

• Work with organisations to help support 15,000 digitally excluded people engage with technology each year
• Provide training and support to 400 organisations across the private, public and third sectors every year on how to engage people with technologies
• Encourage and support organisations to recruit and utilise 500 volunteers to help support people to get online, working closely with volunteer centres and other volunteering networks
• Assist 500 people each year to overcome their ICT barriers and enhance their employability.

Lesley Griffiths said:

“I look forward to working with Wales Co-operative Centre to take forward the new Digital Communities Wales programme, which will help 15,000 people engage with new technologies each year.

“The new programme will build on the success of Communities 2.0 and help more people to benefit from using the internet. It is vital we continue digital inclusion activities so everyone has the opportunity to improve their lives through the use of technology - whether it’s buying goods and services more easily and for lower prices, accessing public services or increased employment opportunities.”

Derek Walker, Chief Executive of the Wales Co-operative Centre, commented:

“We are delighted to get the opportunity to continue to work with Welsh Government to ensure that everyone in Wales has the opportunity to develop skills to access essential information and services via the internet.

“The Wales Co-operative Centre has a history of working in partnership with other organisations and agencies to deliver positive solutions for the people of Wales and we are looking forward to working with colleagues across the country to implement digital inclusion measures where they are most needed.”