Martha Lane-Fox the co-founder of Lastminute.com, is the Government’s Digital Champion tasked with getting the “digitally excluded” online via a broadband connection.
According to her research, up to 10 million people in Britain are living in the digital dark ages – they do not use the internet and do not have a broadband connection. Ms Lane-Fox’s challenge is to bring four million of the poorest “digitally excluded” online and connected via broadband in their own homes.
“I have become a complete zealot”, she says. “I am totally brainwashed. We have the opportunity to create something quite extraordinary here in the UK. It’s often the people facing the toughest times who have the most to gain from what technology has to offer. When I started this crazy journey, I thought there would be a group of over 80s who might find this a step too far. But the people I meet tell me that the internet has given them a window back to the world. They are more confident and less lonely. They are emailing their grandchildren, sharing photographs, ordering their shopping online. Now we are focusing on the health and social care benefits the internet can bring them.”
The economic prize is huge – there are an estimated £22 billion of savings to be had if the whole country was broadband connected and regularly using the internet. With this in mind, Race Online is forming partnerships with among others Google, BT, Sky, and TalkTalk to promote the move to online and the take up of cheap broadband.
If you are new to the internet and would like simple advice from impartial experts, we can help. The Simplifydigital experts are Ofcom approved and can help you find the right broadband package for you (you will need a broadband package to connect to the internet). Broadband packages start from as little as £6 per month.