Category Archives: Research and Reports

Chocolate, sex or your broadband connection?

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""Which would you choose? Chocolate, sex or your broadband connection?

Luckily, it’s probably not a decision that you have to make, but for 25% of people, sex would receive its P45 rather than their broadband, compared with 65% willing to sacrifice alcohol, 76% chocolate and 78% coffee.

The results are only a few of the headline grabbing findings released this week by Boston Consulting Group as part of its latest research which examined the scale and speed of internet-driven economic growth, and its role in changing countries, cultures, and companies.

We now know that in 2010, the net contributed to 8.3% of the UK economy.  That’s a bigger share than any other G20 major country.  The ‘internet economy’ was also worth £121bn, or more than £2,000 per person, making the sector bigger than the healthcare, construction or education.

When it comes to retail, the UK carries out far more online than any other major economy, equating to 13.5% of all purchases through the net, and BCG expects this to rise to 23% by 2016.  Most interestingly, there was also a 12% growth in SME’s who used the internet for marketing, sales and content, in comparison to a 4% growth among those who didn’t.

As Martha says: “despite very challenging times, BCG’s latest report is a cheering example of the UK taking advantage of the huge opportunities afforded by a digital economy.

Savvy British shoppers are not only benefitting from increased choice and savings, but the growth of SME’s and the creation of thousands of new businesses and jobs shows that increasingly, not being online puts organisations at a disadvantage.

It may be predicted that our web economy will double by 2016, but there are still 8.2 million people and thousands of organisations still to benefit.  Britain is already a centre for technology, and it’s increasingly important that we seize the opportunity to make the UK the most digitally literate nation, with every person, and every organisation able to take advantage.”

She also added as a sideline: “although… I don’t know whether to be amazed or appalled that the UK would rather give up sex than the internet.”

So, back to the million dollar question – hand on heart, which would you choose?

Digital skills and employment

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""A couple of crazy facts for you – seven out of ten employers think good IT skills are important, yet only four out of ten people looking for work believe IT qualifications would help them gain employment.

Revealed by learndirect this week, it illustrates the enormous disparity between the skills expectations of jobseekers and employers.

With unemployment at a high, it also confirms what we already know – how vital digital skills are for education and employment.  You’re 25% more likely to get work when you have web skills and if 3.5% of those who are offline and unemployed could find work by using job websites it would deliver an estimated £560 million to the UK economy.

Fortunately, there are many routes that jobseekers can take to up their digital savvy – which are often free, or at least very low cost.  And that’s where you come in.

If someone you know could benefit, take them to learndirect.co.uk and help them find a course.  UK online centres has also just finished its New Year, New Online You campaign, which helped beginners access vital government services – such as health, jobs and pensions – online, and it’s never too late to inspire a beginner you know to take advantage.  Use the postcode search.

224,000 fewer adults offline in the UK

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By Ben Carpenter, Race Online 2012 Special Adviser

The number of UK adults never to have used the internet has fallen by 224,000 to just over 8.2m adults (16.3%), according to the Office for National Statistics’ final quarterly report, released today. Fewer people are offline across all age groups and the total 2011 change now totals 535,000 fewer adults never online.

It’s good to see an improvement in offline figures but they also reinforce the need for the UK to prioritise the education and accessibility of IT skills for its citizens. There is still a long way to go if the UK is to become the world’s most digitally capable nation.

The figures suggest progress primarily among harder-to-reach groups, those supported by service delivery specialists like UK online centres, unionlearn, Citizens Online, Age UK, libraries, Digital Unite and NIACE.

Nearly 80% of the total decrease occurred among those over 55, and most dramatically with over 75s, where 55,000 fewer are offline. But, worryingly, this quarter’s decrease in this age bracket is almost exclusively among men (-4%), with no progress made for women over 75, 2 million of whom are still offline (nearly a quarter of all offline adults).

Across all age groups, twice as many men have got online as women this quarter: 152,000 to 72,000. This discrepancy is not reflected in the previous two quarters’ estimates, but is one to beware of it in case it does become a trend.

67% of the total offline population remains over 65, and much needs to be done to help these groups, particularly as older people are best placed to benefit from being online, with mobility and loneliness more likely to be issues.

The figures suggest a strong positive trend of people with a disability getting online, with a 1.84% decrease in this area. Race Online 2012 continues to work with the eAccessibility Forum, AbilityNet, Headstar and the One Voice coalition on exciting new work to further develop the empowering influence that digital technology can have on the lives of people with disabilities.

We look forward to the next quarter’s data, where accessibility as a barrier to internet use will be more effectively measured, asking how inaccessible technology, rather than registered disability, creates barriers to getting online.

The ONS estimates also suggest that those employed on low incomes are being increasingly left behind, with those offline and earning less than £300 a week going up by 58,000 adults, against a small decrease among those earning £300 a week and above.

Geographically, progress has been reasonably evenly spread, without the peaks seen in the previous quarter (Q3). The greatest decrease in offliners was in Yorkshire and the East Midlands (both nearly 1%), but none have seen progress as significant as during Q3 in Merseyside, when a 6.2% drop was measured.

Race Online 2012 continues to work hard with partners and beyond, to see further improvement.

Safer Internet Day 2012

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""It’s Safer Internet Day today folks!

This year’s theme, Connecting Generations, is all about inspiring more people to discover the net together safely.

While you’re never too young to start being safe, you’re also never too old to learn digital skills and it’s a fab opportunity for friends and families to chat about staying safe on the web.

The Beeb’s found that 67% of young people help their parents or carers use the internet, including one in five who help parents/carers set security settings on the family computer.  Rather than being taboo, we believe that parents’ should have the confidence to discuss internet safety with their kids, and not be afraid to ask them to share their skills.

We aren’t the only ones to think so.  Lots of our brilliant partners are supporting, including Post Office, Google, Age UK and TalkTalk.  Whether it’s promoting resources or syndiacting messages via social media (the hash tags are #ConnectingGenerations and #SID2012), all are using their various skills and assets to reach their communities.  If you haven’t already, there’s still time to do the same.

Here are a few of the great resources available:

November highlight report

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Race Online 2012′s monthly highlight reports are a round-up of all our tip-top campaign updates.

Read November’s report for the results of the brilliant Go ON Give an Hour campaign, the latest on Go ON Places, and details of our newest publication: Digital by Default 2012.

Why social housing should be digital by default

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In the UK, 9.5 million people live in social housing in 4.1 million homes – that’s 15% of the population – who account for almost half of the adults not yet online.

Alongside Housing Technology and 15 housing associations, Race Online 2012 recently published ‘Digital by Default 2012; the case for digital housing.

If you haven’t already read the report, or simply fancy flipping through the stand out stats and top reasons for a digital social housing sector (with a cheerful little tune in the background), watch the brilliant infographic below, created by Reason Digital:

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/32681348 w=400&h=225]

The Guardian – almost half the offline population lives in social housing

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If only 3.5% of those in social housing who are both offline and unemployed got online and found work, the net economic benefit would be more than £200m. Inspiring and encouraging those in work online would deliver a further £750m.

In today’s Guardian, Martha calls on housing professionals to consider the economic, social and moral imperative for a digital social housing sector.  Read the article.

MLF discusses accessibility on You & Yours

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Yesterday, the Office for National Statistics released its third quarterly update on internet access, which showed that of the 8.43 million adults in the UK who have never used the internet, 4.25 million are disabled.

At lunchtime, Martha and Nigel Lewis, CEO of AbilityNet, of which Martha recently became a patron, discussed the issue on Radio 4’s You & Yours programme.

“Firstly it’s very important to recognise that there’s an enormous benefit for disabled people to be online”, she said.  “Therefore we should work hard to create technologies that are easier to use and to bring the price points down of the technologies that are out there already.”

According to Nigel Lewis, those with disabilities are often prevented or discouraged from going online because of inaccessible technology.  “Either they can’t engage with and use the standard computer out of the box, and so it needs adapting in some way, or the online services, the websites, are not accessible with their adaptive technology”, he said.

Listen to the interview on BBC iPlayer (available for a limited time only)

300,000 fewer adults offline in the UK

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The Office for National Statistics’ third quarterly report on UK internet use is out today and estimates that the number of adults never to have used the internet has fallen by nearly 300,000 to 8.43M people, or 16.8% of the adult population.

It’s a welcome move in the right direction but to really make the very most of digital technology and ensure that everyone benefits from the massive difference it makes to people’s lives, the UK must continue to prioritise education, accessibility and engagement with IT for its offline citizens.

Race Online 2012 continues to work hard with partners and beyond, to see further improvement. We’re looking forward to seeing the impact of the Give An Hour campaign and our work with the social housing sector and the Housing Minister, Grant Shapps, to help the estimated 4 million people living in social housing who have never been online.

A closer look at the 300,000 fewer offliners suggests that harder-to-reach groups are getting online, supported by the strong work of service delivery specialists such as UK online centres, unionlearn, libraries, Digital Unite and NIACE.

Older people have the most to gain from the web, as mobility and loneliness are more likely to become issues. It’s good to see, therefore, that more than a quarter of a million of the 300,000 are over 55 years old, and 164,000 are over 75 years old.

In fact, older people and those on low incomes are getting online faster than anyone. Those earning less than £300 a week account for 79% of the decrease in employed offliners.

It’s disappointing not to see a decrease in the number of people with disabilities who have never been online. Race Online 2012 is working closely with the government’s eAccessibility Forum to maximise the empowering influence that digital technology often has on the lives of people with disabilities.

Race Online 2012 is working in partnership with AbilityNet, Nominet Trust and the Office for National Statistics, to better measure accessibility as a barrier to internet use. Current data simply says how many people offline have a disability, not whether that disability (or, more to the point, inaccessible technology) is the key barrier.

Around the UK, the biggest decrease in adults who have never been online has been in Cumbria, with a 6.2% drop, and 43,000 fewer adults are now offline in Merseyside, a 3.9% change in the 3 months.

Liverpool is one of the most digitally excluded cities in the UK, so helping people online here is imperative. The Go ON It’s Liverpool campaign is well underway, backed by the Council, working in partnership with Liverpool Vision, Race Online 2012, housing associations, the Health Service, Fire and Rescue, the BBC and others.  More than 1,000 people in Liverpool are already pledging to give an hour and help people they know to get online.