News in Brief

e-skills UK backs government drive to get 7.5 million more people online

Older people and the less well-off are to be the target of an ambitious campaign to get 7.5 million new internet users online by 2014, Stephen Timms, Minister for Digital Britain announced today.

The government has set a target to get 60% of the 12.5 million people who are not online in the UK, online in the next four years. The target underpins a new drive to reduce the digital divide in the government's National Digital Participation Plan, published today.

The Plan sets out the benefits of being online, and provides a framework for existing and emerging digital participation projects to drive a more inclusive Digital Britain.

e-skills UK is a member of the Consortium for the Promotion of Digital Participation which developed the Plan in consultation with government. e-skills UK has also been involved in developing the Online Basics Course which forms part of the government’s digital participation agenda. Online Basics is a free, easy to use course that helps people get started using computers and the internet.

e-skills UK has a range of initiatives aimed at increasing digital participation, including:

• the Business IT Guide
• ITQ – the IT User Qualification
• CC4G Family Learning
• the Make IT Happy challenge

The Plan comes as a result of one of the recommendations in the Digital Britain Report published in June 2009.

Posted on 03 Mar 2010