Tackling the digital divide through partnership | Sponsored
The Politics Show
The New Statesman
4.2 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 11 October 2023
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
20 million people in the UK lack the basic digital skills required to download apps, apply for jobs online, or use the internet with confidence. This results in a £5.5bn loss of earnings to UK employees, and is a serious problem for UK productivity and individual quality of life.
In this special episode, Jon Bernstein from the New Statesman’s Spotlight on Policy team meets Martin McFadyen from Virgin Media O2 Business and three charity and environmental partners - Emma Stone (Good Things Foundation), Emma Weston (Digital Unite) and Holly Smith (Hubbub) – to find out how they are helping local communities by providing opportunities for people to get connected and develop their digital skills.
This episode is sponsored by Virgin Media O2 Business. Not sure where to start with ESG? Visit: https://www.virginmediao2business.co.uk/sustainability/
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, you're listening to a special episode of the New Statesman podcast from the New |
| 0:07.6 | Statesman Spotlight team. |
| 0:09.5 | We cover policy for those who shape it and the businesses it affects. |
| 0:13.4 | I'm John Bernstein. |
| 0:19.2 | In this episode, we're discussing how businesses can help their local communities by improving |
| 0:24.0 | digital connectivity. |
| 0:25.7 | The internet, of course, is vital to our economy with 82% of jobs in the UK now requiring |
| 0:31.6 | digital skills, according to the digital poverty alliance. |
| 0:35.8 | But surprisingly, perhaps research conducted by Virgin Media O2 Business found that more |
| 0:41.6 | than a third of people have been unable to complete simple tasks in the last year, |
| 0:46.9 | such as booking a GP appointment online. |
| 0:50.2 | Meanwhile, an additional third say that a lack of digital skills has held them back and |
| 0:55.8 | held their earnings potential back. |
| 0:58.6 | Limited access to connectivity, digital services and skills are restricting people and impacting |
| 1:04.1 | their life outcomes. |
| 1:05.7 | This is called digital exclusion. |
| 1:08.4 | Businesses can play a key role in helping to tackle it. |
| 1:11.5 | By taking part in schemes with internet providers and charities, they can help their local |
| 1:15.5 | communities get better connected, while also contributing to ESG goals. |
| 1:20.2 | Environmental, social and governance. |
| 1:23.5 | So how practically can organisations help to close the digital divide? |
| 1:28.5 | Well, that's exactly what we're going to discuss today. |
... |
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