WIREDGOV

Across the UK today, digital exclusion takes centre stage. The third annual End Digital Poverty Day, led by the Digital Poverty Alliance (DPA), has become the national moment when attention converges on the scale of the divide – and, crucially, on the solutions already proving that change is possible.

First launched in 2023, the Day has quickly evolved from a call for awareness into a marker of accountability. Each year it challenges government, industry, and communities to pause, take stock, and measure progress. It is not simply a campaign, but a checkpoint: recognition for what has been achieved, and a reminder of the distance still to go.

This year, the Day carries new weight with the launch of the UK Digital Inclusion Awards, the first national programme to recognise practical action already making an impact. With five categories – Raising Awareness, Accessible Services, Device Donation, Digital Skills Development, and Partnerships for Impact – the Awards place a spotlight on work that is delivering measurable results and creating models for wider adoption.

“End Digital Poverty Day has always been about more than visibility,” said Elizabeth Anderson, CEO, Digital Poverty Alliance. “By launching the UK Digital Inclusion Awards, we are highlighting initiatives that are already changing lives and putting evidence of what works in front of decision-makers. The Awards are about momentum – they show where progress is being made and challenge all of us to act with urgency.”

The winners will be revealed this evening at the Gala Reception at Bankside Gallery in London, which also raises funds for the DPA’s delivery programmes. More than a celebration, the Gala is designed to pair recognition with responsibility. By bringing leaders from government, industry, the third sector, and civil society into one room, it sets the stage for what comes next: not just applauding good practice, but committing to extend it.

Across 2025, the DPA has deepened its national and local impact. Within the UK Government’s Digital Inclusion Action Plan, leadership of the national device donation scheme is ensuring that surplus government laptops are refurbished and placed with households most in need. In parallel, representation on the Digital Inclusion Action Committee is contributing sector expertise to wider government efforts. Delivery has also expanded on the ground, with Tech4Communities launched in Gateshead and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and Tech4Youth and Tech4YoungCarers reaching more families and young people across the UK.

“This has been a year of delivery,” added Anderson. “From the national device donation scheme and participation in the Digital Inclusion Action Committee to the launch of Tech4Communities in Gateshead and Kensington and Chelsea and the expansion of youth and carer programmes nationwide, the Digital Poverty Alliance is showing how intent becomes access.”

Three years in, End Digital Poverty Day has become the anchor for a national effort. It has grown because the challenge it addresses is real, persistent, and measurable. But it has also grown because of the solutions – from secure device donation and local partnerships to national campaigns and skills development – that show progress is possible when sectors work together.

“End Digital Poverty Day is now established as the annual moment when government, industry, the third sector, and civil society can come together,” said Anderson. “The challenge is no longer to identify the problem. It is to embed and expand proven solutions, so that digital access, skills, and support are treated not as optional extras, but as the foundations of participation in modern life.”