Digital Poverty: An Ongoing Challenge

Digital Poverty: An Ongoing Challenge
The COVID pandemic has affected millions of people globally and has seen technology use rise exponentially in order for employees to work remotely, for children to continue their education and for families to be entertained in their homes through online platforms. Technology is providing a vital lifeline for everyone to achieve a level of normality as tablets, laptops and online services are seeing unprecedented use during our work and play. 
We were all thrusted into this new reality with lockdowns and curfews that quickly showed how bad digital poverty is affecting our societies. Even developed nations such as the UK were hit quite badly by this, with the pandemic revealing the true extent of digital poverty. A recent webinar held by the British Computer Society (BCS), the UK’s Chartered Institute for IT, has emphasized how important digital inclusion was and it revealed that the digital poverty affects a significant percentage of the UK population, with approximately nine million adult being digitally excluded. This is a staggering revelation that shows there is much to be done to reduce this divide; something that I have been calling for, for the past thirty years. 
One thing is clear. All the assurances, programmed and initiatives designed to bridge the digital gap in previous years have been lacking. If the UK in 2021 as the world’s fifth richest country has such a terrible record, I dread to think how developing countries fair. This phenomena is clearly linked with income and education levels which also manifests itself geographically. There is a clear divide between the modern developed cities and the poorer rural areas. The BCS discovered that there is a clear north-south divide in the UK, with the south being the more digitally prosperous and the north lagging far behind. This is the case in most nations as infrastructure is pumped into major cities with the rural areas receiving little attention.
To me it is clear that tackling the digital poverty is an issue that requires all of us to work together as it is too large for one entity to take on alone. This is an issue that affects children and adults alike and can have severe repercussions if not addressed as the divide between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ continues to widen. This is particularly worrying as we are in no way in the clear yet and will continue to see infection waves recurring. As I have previously said, this pandemic will remain with us at until 2025. This means we must learn to live with it and need to have the technological means to continue our lives, which is every human beings’ right. 
I am afraid that a lack of action will severely affect an entire generation of our children. We need coordinated action as there are many initiatives all working independently to try and address this issue with their own agendas and objectives. I call for them to combine their efforts and to work together. Our leaders must take this responsibility with the seriousness it deserves and they must ensure a message of digital competence filters through all levels of society, and that pragmatic measures are put in place to make a real difference with ambitious targets. I clearly mean that a tangible improvement in the technology capability of the ordinary citizens across the nation should be evident. A coherent plan for each nation should be developed as needs differ, with a key factors being transparency and long-term sustainability. We can no longer afford to engage in ‘hit and run’ projects.
I see that such plans should be four-fold. Firstly, tackling access to affordable computing equipment, be they laptops, desktops or otherwise. Secondly, to ensure that a decent internet speed is available to everyone at an affordable price. Thirdly, to have a comprehensive training skills programme in place for both adults and children on how to effectively use computing technology and access online resources in a safe manner. Lastly, there should be proper governance, compliance and risk management to provide a safe online environment for us all to work within. 
Governments need to ensure they have skilled IT professionals in their teams to help develop and lead such national plans, delivered with, and across all sectors, with engagement from the private sector. This should include bringing together existing initiatives and charities which are passionate about digital poverty to bolster efforts in delivering real change, as well as engaging with experts in the private sector who bring a wealth of experience to the table. 
A holistic, a far reaching and a sustainable approach, that must include green IT principles, must be developed.. We must take lessons from what we have gone through and be better prepared as it is only a matter of time until the next crisis hits.