Thanks to Caroline Poland for sending me a link to this October 2008 report [51 pages 400 kB PDF], written by the Office for Public Management Ltd for the English Department for Communities and Local Government. The report, which was surprisingly silent on schools, FE colleges, family learning, employment, and unions as vehicles for digital inclusion, describes itself as a "qualitative research to support the development of the digital inclusion strategy". Here is what is, in effect, its abstract:
"This report summarises insights and experiences from community and third sector organisations involved in initiatives aimed at opening up digital technologies to excluded communities. The report is based on conversations with staff and service users, collected through one-to-one interviews and visits to specific initiatives, and on two workshops (Nottingham, 26 June 2008; London 30 June 2008). Additional evidence was provided by studies carried out by third sector organisations, Ofcom and UK Online Centres.
The objectives of this project were to:
1. identify community experiences of digital exclusion
2. identify a taxonomy of need/opportunity
3. outline pathways to digital inclusion for different communities
4. highlight messages and potential building blocks for the Digital Inclusion Strategy."
I'm not surprised the report is "silent on schools, FE colleges, family learning, employment, and unions as vehicles for digital inclusion". This is symptomatic of a general disjuncture in policy making which urgently needs to be joined up.
Posted by: John Popham | 02/11/2008 at 20:45