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How can techUK members and industry be part of the Digital Inclusion Service?

Public bodies and industry have an opportunity to get digitally excluded Londoners online via the new Digital Inclusion Service. The service will be funded by the London Recovery Programme as part of the Mayor of London’s commitment to upskilling Londoners, aiding post-covid recovery and boosting the economy. The scheme has bene launched in partnership with the London Office of Technology and Innovation (LOTI), and Good Things Foundation.

An estimated 270,000 Londoners have no access to the internet or digital access at all, with a further 2 million having very limited use, and research by LOTI shows that there are100 different initiatives across the capital to address digital exclusion, but these often offer only part of the support people need, like basic skills, a device or a cheap connection.

The Digital Inclusion Service aims to:

• Upcycle old devices from public bodies and businesses for distribution to digitally excluded Londoners through a new Device Bank run by Good Things Foundation 
• Provide freeor low-cost mobile connectivity via a Data Bank and the promotion of ‘social tariffs’ (cheap internet connections offered by telecommunications firms) 
• Link to existing skills offers by Good Things Foundation and hundredsof Greater London Authority funded free adult education courses on basic skills, as well as borough and voluntary and community sector provision across the capital.
• Create a cross-London digital inclusion network of organisations building on existing work to tackle digital exclusion

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan is “calling on large businesses and public bodies to join us in upcycling their old laptops and other tech to the new Device Bank to be reconditioned, to help bridge the digital divide, aid London’s recovery and build a better London for everyone.”