The recommendations of the INDIE group are that the Government should form a Digital strategy which includes:
1. Develop without delay a large-scale public awareness campaign, drawing upon a range of public, semi-state and voluntary organisations and the corporate sector.
2. Initiate one or more studies, perhaps through ESRI, to establish:
- Baseline data in relation to groups regarded as digitally excluded or at risk of exclusion and the scale of such exclusion
- The scope of the work currently being done in this area – perhaps taking the INDIE group to begin with
- The real usage of technology by marginalised groups
3. Appoint a “Digital Inclusion Champion” along the lines of the UK approach. Consider the appointment of “local champions”.
4. Include “Digital Inclusion” explicitly in the title and portfolio of a Government Minister or Junior Minister.
5. Ensure that an appropriate enabling framework is developed, potentially through an inter-departmental task force with the capacity to draw in and align the work of a wide range of stakeholder organisations active in the field of digital inclusion.
6. Recognising the very positive benefits that will result from achieving higher levels of digital engagement – and the relatively low cost of achieving this – ensure that adequate resources continue to be made available – drawing on input from all key stakeholders – to deliver on the objectives set out in the new strategy.
