Event Report: The Data Poverty APPG’s Second State of the Nation Report Launch
On Tuesday 12 September, the Data Poverty APPG launched its second State of Nation Report. The report set out the APPG’s findings over the past year and made nine recommendations to serve as a starting point for tackling data poverty in the UK. These are:
1. Make data poverty and digital inclusion a core task of the new Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
2. Create a Digital and Social inclusion Fund
3. Develop a national digital inclusion forum with Ofcom
4. Create a ‘one-stop shop’ digital inclusion support service for consumers, charities, and government agencies.
5. Facilitate easier access to social tariffs and data voucher schemes for those on eligible benefits.
6. Increase provision of internet connectivity in public spaces.
7. Create A digital ‘right-of-way’ to public services and other essential services provided through the private sector.
8. Expand the number of zero-rated websites
The full report is available here.
The event was chaired by APPG Co-chair Matt Warman MP. Speakers included Chris Ashworth OBE, Head of Social Impact at Nominet;, Elisabeth Rochford, Head of Social Equity, Value & Impact at Virgin Media O2; Catherine Russell, Head of Sustainable Business at Vodafone; Paul McKean, Director of FE and Skills at Jisc; Helen Burrows, Policy Director at BT; Helen Milner OBE, CEO of the Good Things Foundation; and Leigh Smyth, Strategy Advisor at We Are Digital.
Please see below for the minutes of the report launch:
Matt Warman MP began by welcoming all attendees. He congratulated his Co-Chair, Darren Jones MP, on his promotion to Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and expressed hope for continued cross-party working. He outlined how data poverty had grown as an issue over the past year, and the need for a solution more urgent. He said the APPG had seen many positive steps to reduce data poverty in the same timeframe, such as the House of Lords Communication and Digital Committee’s digital exclusion report and numerous private initiatives, but that much more can be done. He told attendees the APPG’s second State of Nation Report reflected the changing landscapes around data and digital poverty and contained a series of updated recommendations as a result. Next, he highlighted how there are many angles into the topic of data poverty, allowing for engagement with different government departments in sectors such as health, education, financial services and access to the labour market. Matt thanked the contributors to the report, including Nominet, Good Things Foundation, NHS England, Jisc, BT, Virgin Media O2, the APLE Collective, We Are Digital, and the Digital Poverty Alliance. drew attention to the fact that it was also End Digital Poverty Day, and the APPG’s reception was one of several events hosted to mark this. He closed by reminding attendees that the value of the APPG comes through making connections, and encouraged further networking after the speeches had concluded. He then introduced Chris Ashworth OBE, Head of Social Impact at Nominet.
Chris Ashworth OBE thanked Matt Warman MP and Darren Jones MP for Co-Chairing the Data Poverty APPG. He praised the APPG’s second State of Nation Report as marking an important milestone in addressing the issue of data poverty. During the last 12 months, he explained that there has been a disconnect in how the UK has been reporting on digital, and the reality that most people face. He gave the example of the media and parliament’s focus on generative AI, either as dystopian or utopian, masking the more pressing issue of millions of people being digitally excluded. He said the UK is trying to be an advanced digital economy but has left hundreds of thousands behind with improper online access. Turning to the statistics around data poverty, Chris caveated that no social issue is perfect to analyse in terms of facts and figures, but that all of those related to data poverty are trending downwards nationally. He therefore said that, while data poverty might be difficult to eradicate, we still need to focus on changing the direction of travel, especially as the UK is a wealthy country with pre-existing digital infrastructure. To show the downwards trend, he highlighted studies from Good Things Foundation, Nominet and The Citizens Advice Bureau, who found 11% of families either have cancelled or downgraded broadband this year, and said 2023 is the second year in a row of children on free school meals in the UK going up. He cited Nominet’s Digital Youth Index, which has found children are spending more time online, at 4,5 hours per day online on average, and equating to 3,500 hours lost for a young person not connected over the course of a year. He expressed particular concern at this statistic as all home study is now digital, meaning disconnected children are unable to learn. Based on this data, Chris emphasised that we should not be in a situation where young people under the age of 18 can’t study due to lack of internet. In terms of the recommendations from the APPG’s State of Nation Report recommendations, he said the keystone was that data poverty and digital inclusion must become core tasks for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). He argued this is because the social and civic infrastructure exists to improve digital and data access, but that there is a need for an operating environment to support its mission.
Matt Warman MP thanked Chris Ashworth OBE. He then introduced Elisabeth Rochford, Head of Social Equity, Value & Impact at Virgin Media O2.
Elisabeth Rochford started by saying that those in the room were well aware of data poverty and its solutions and that the second State of Nation Report was an effort to bring this awareness to those outside the room. She said Virgin Media O2 have generated enough connectivity to provide half a million people with data, including by providing over 85,000 sim cards and restoring over 1,500 devices. To build on this work, she called for the Government to work with industry to make digital services more available to those who need them. She told attendees of Virgin Media O2’s work with Hubbub make their 60 sites free to access for customers. Next, Elisabeth acknowledged the role of social tariffs in improving data access, and shared that take-up of Virgin Media O2’s social tariff has increased in the past year. She said they are working hard to make sure social tariffs are on every customer service interaction and welcomed the State of the Nation report’s recommendation that there should be greater signposting towards these offers by ISP and Ofcom. More widely, she welcomed the report and its recommendations and re-emphasised Virgin Media O2’s commitment to tackling data and digital poverty.
Matt Warman MP thanked Elisabeth Rochford and noted it was particularly interesting to hear of initiatives such as improved signposting that the Government could implement at no extra cost. He then introduced Catherine Russell, Head of Sustainable Business at Vodafone.
Catherine Russell thanked Matt Warman MP and the APPG secretariat for hosting the event, and thanked the other speakers for their dedication to tackling the issue of data poverty. She began by expressing how she truly believes in the opportunities of the online world and underlined that broadband is as essential as heating and food. She said Vodafone is committed to their target of supporting 4 million people to cross the digital divide, and outlined a number of ways in which they are making progress. These included funding three sim cards via their partner Good Things Foundation, continuing to expand their social tariff offer, and investing in digital skills training. She praised the Data Poverty APPG’s focus on different sectors over the course of the last year, and welcomed the State of Nation Report’s recommendations – and particularly its emphasis on pushing digital inclusion up Government’s agenda. She expressed hope that the APPG’s report alongside the House of Lords Communication and Digital Committee’s digital exclusion report will stimulate a coordinated cross-party response from the Government aimed at tackling data and digital poverty.
Matt Warman MP thanked Catherine Russell. He then introduced Paul McKean, Director of FE and Skills at Jisc.
Paul McKean outlined Jisc’s concern about unequal access to AI increasing wider digital inequality. He explained Jisc works to increase connectivity in public spaces, including fire stations and hospitals, universities and town centres. He shared research from Jisc that found 54% of higher education students and 56% of further education students see access to Wi-Fi as a barrier to learning. He also referred to a lack of devices holding back education, with 12%-27% in higher education and 12-32% in further education struggling with access to devices since last year. Paul said that as a result of this, Jisc believes in the need to extend access to data across public spaces, not just campuses, expanding on their existing work extending the availability of eduroam to over 500 public sites in Kent and Medway, significantly increasing the number of places students can get connectivity. Turning to the issue of AI, he said that digital inequalities are being worsened by AI tools, especially since the release of Chat GPT last year. He told attendees how generative AI is already used by students to research, write, and as a learning assistant, and as a result it is a new form of digital literacy. He continued that AI has several barriers to access, as it requires data access, and a financial investment up to £1,000 for all the latest tools and plug-ins. As a result, he expressed concern that that those students who can afford AI will have an unfair advantage of those who can’t – something backed up by a student survey that Jisc commissioned. Paul ended by saying he hoped the Data Poverty APPG needs to look at AI future meetings.
Matt Warman MP thanked Paul McKean. He then introduced Helen Burrows, Policy Director at BT.
Helen Burrows started by saying BT were the first to introduce social tariffs and still has 85% of the market. She said BT have been thinking about the issue of data poverty in depth and have done internal research and trials on how to fund broadband access. She highlighted low uptake on social tariffs despite high levels of eligibility as a particular source of interest, and that BT are undertaking research to understand why. She expressed her belief that the biggest recommendation in the State of the Nation report is the need for a digital inclusion fund. She said BT have worked with Frontier Economics to find how many households can’t afford connectivity, and found that at least 1 million households, have no money left to pay for broadband after they have paid for other essential services. She also highlighted how this research found that the people struggling the most are of working age with children, but not in work. She said that these groups have been trapped in many forms of exclusion, including digital exclusion, and that they need funding and support from the Government, rather than the status quo of government expecting them to support themselves. As a result, Helen told attendees it is important policymakers focus on groups who can’t afford broadband, even on social tariffs. She continued that Frontier Economics found 20% of those who are eligible for social tariffs live in high-income households, and often are young jobseekers still living with their parents or people living in shared rentals. Of the rest of those eligible for social tariffs, most are already in the market navigating to get something that works for them. She next called for Ofcom to look at different data to see who’s paying £20 a month for broadband. She said BT has a paper from skills charity AbilityNet on how someone on a journey from digital exclusion to inclusions needs personal, trusted, one-to-one support. She ended by saying that data poverty is a systemic issue, and if we can fix it, we empower a huge group of people and the UK economy. She told attendees there is therefore an ethical and an economic argument to ending data poverty.
Matt Warman MP thanked Helen Burrows, and emphasised the importance of having data and research on the success of initiatives to tackle data poverty. He then introduced Helen Milner OBE, CEO of the Good Things Foundation.
Helen Milner OBE began by thanking Darren Jones MP for his work establishing the APPG, and said he will be missed. She also thanked Matt Warman MP for his work in taking the APPG forward. She pointed attendees towards a quote in the State of the Nation Report taken from the House of Lords Communication and Digital Committee’s digital exclusion report calling out the Government’s “shocking political lethargy” and “lack of a credible plan” for tackling digital exclusion and data poverty. She agreed that the Government lacks focus on digital inclusion and called for a commitment to a digital inclusion strategy in their response to the House of Lords report. She noted that in the vacuum left by the Government, businesses and other organisations have stepped up to tackle data poverty, and thanked the Good Things Foundation’s strategic partners for their support in that work. She said she visited Good Things Foundation’s digital inclusion hub in Battersea Power Station before the event and was humbled by the work of the staff there supporting the needy. She related how the hub helped a young man out of the risk of gang life and he’s now doing an apprenticeship as an accountant at a local council, proving how these hubs can work. She continued to say that when she asked what the databank needed next, it was support scaling up. She said that while there are currently 1,413 databanks in communities across the country, this is not enough. Helen next called on the Government to give old devices to Good Things Foundation’s devices banks, to put in the hands of digitally excluded people, as demand is currently outstripping supply by five times. She concluded by re-emphasising how she’s looking forward to a credible plan from government, but in the meantime Good Things Foundation and their partners are getting on with the job themselves.
Matt Warman MP thanked Helen Milner OBE and said he hoped the Government will donate their old devices. He then introduced Leigh Smyth, Strategy Advisor for We Are Digital.
Leigh Smyth introduced We Are Digital as a social tech for good platform providing support for those in need across the UK. She praised the APPG’s State of Nation Report, noting that as the founder of the Lloyds Digital Index, she knows how hard they are to pull together. She welcomed the report’s recommendations, and underlined the need for a long-term funding plan from both government and industry to fix data poverty. She explained to attendees how We Are Digital are helping people get online at home and via community centres, and have so far enabled £3-4 million to go back out into the community as of last year. She identified the biggest issue to digital inclusion as getting people motivated to get online, and said this is made more challenging by a fragmented market making the customer journey towards digital inclusion much harder than it needs to be. She further outlined the mismatch of availability of support for the digitally excluded with the huge demand for it. She said that support needs to be multi-channel and mainstream as a result, to reflect that it’s not a minority of people in data poverty. Leigh went on to set out We Are Digital’s belief that tech can be used to centralise and streamline digital inclusion support, through a wealth tech platform – described as a ‘one stop shop’ in the APPG’s report. She recounted that she earlier witnessed a woman stuck in a train station who couldn’t prove she bought a ticket as she could not access the Wi-Fi and was told to leave the train station, unable to go home and feed her kids. She said this illustrates how everyone has unique needs, and many don’t have the time, energy or inclination to meet these needs in a confused and fragmented market. In term of a funding model for data poverty and digital inclusion, Leigh spoke of the need for a cross-sector investment fund pulling together stakeholders including the Government, tech companies, broadcasters, the NHS, ISPs and all sectors which foster demand for tech, similar to debt advice desks within banks. Within this, she called for the Government’s to take the role of convenor – creating the fund and ensuring it is sustainable. She also said a digital-champion model is important, and advocated for a campaign to encourage people to help others with fewer digital skills or less access.
Matt Warman MP thanked Leigh and all the previous speakers. He said there is a huge amount of work to do for the Government and industry to understand exactly what the problems are behind data poverty and the best way to fix them. He shared his hope that the APPG would go from strength to strength, and called for a collaborative approach to tackling data poverty that would make use of the Government’s convening power. This, he said, should take the form of a strategic plan targeting the issue and which has the potential to make a profound impact on people’s lives. He ended by thanking everyone for coming and encouraged those in the room to remain behind to network.