Government in £35m bid to design out digital exclusion

The Government has put a £35 million tender out calling for the design of systems to help 10.5 million disenfranchised UK citizens who lack basic digital skills and can’t access digital government services independently.

Government Digital Service and The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills are looking to find ways of removing barriers presented by lack of access, digital skills, vulnerability or motivation.

A framework of suppliers will be established, split into two sub-divisions – Assisted Digital and Digital Inclusion. Among Digital Inclusion one of the lots specifies “design of a digital inclusion course, product or intervention for any channel”.

Other lots include “digital inclusion research and analysis”, (which highlights “research design, data collection, analysis and reporting”).

Also mentioned is “delivery of digital inclusion, basic digital skills training and digital inclusion marketing and promotion.”

Interested parties have until 18 January 2016 to respond. For more information, head here. Those applying will also need to be registered here.

Earlier this year the BBC micro:bit scheme saw Technology Will Save Us create a basic, programmable computer, which was given away to every child in the country.

It may be that physical products are part of the Government’s solution to helping “digitally excluded” people, or web-based education, or some kind of service-based solution.