UK Digital Champion Martha Lane Fox (in purple) helping to get all generations online. Photo credit: UK Cabinet Office
The economy of the future is digital. Already today it’s hard to think of many jobs where familiarity with computers and the Internet is not helpful: in the near future, 90% of jobs will require some level of digital literacy.
So we should seriously worry about digital skills. In tomorrow’s world, if you don’t have them, you will be shut off from opportunity – whether it’s accessing government services, applying for jobs or connecting with friends and family to reduce social isolation. And bear in mind that, even today, 1 in 4 European adults have never used the Internet. Those people – “digital virgins” – are already more likely to be in groups more at risk of socio-economic exclusion; being cut off from the Internet will make that even worse.If we can get every European digital, we can cut this exclusion; and, what’s more, we will find the investment really pays off. First, because getting people online makes it cheaper and easier for public authorities to reach out to everyone – the e-Government savings from getting everyone online could amount to an amazing €30 billion per year across the EU.
But also because, in a few years’ time, pretty much every company – from small entrepreneurs to big multinationals – is going to start looking at the digital skills available before they decide where to set up shop. If we want this activity to be in Europe – rather than, say, in Silicon Valley or India – then we’d better start skilling up. Whether it’s improving the digital skills of those at risk of labour market exclusion; getting more and more people to embrace highly-skilled ICT jobs; or getting more young girls to study the STEM subjects of science, technology, engineering and maths, where they are currently underrepresented.
But here’s the difficulty. Getting all those remaining people online is going to take a lot of tailored work. It’s going to take a lot of levers – like education and training – which are operated at member state or regional level, not from Brussels. And some of the actions aren’t best done by governments at all – but by NGOs and activists able to reach out to those most at risk of Internet exclusion.
The answer is for every member state to have their own “digital champion” – a high-profile, dynamic and energetic individual responsible for getting everyone in their country online and improving digital skills. They would work with education authorities, industry, and grassroots activists; independent of central government, but reporting to it.
It’s a model that’s worked really well in the UK, where Martha Lane Fox is busy getting 9 million Brits online — and I was personally very touched to meet Martha recently and hear some of the inspiring stories about people she has helped. But equally it’s a model that can be flexibly adjusted to the different situations in each member state – and build on the good work they’ve already done. For my part, I and my services are standing ready to support this process, through a network so the digital champions can share their knowledge and experiences.
And just yesterday the European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso wrote to the leaders of all the EU member states asking them to do just that – and appoint their own Digital Champion.
Every Member State should have a Digital Champion. Does yours?
PS: while on the theme of digital inclusion – today we also opened submissions for the Digital Inclusion 2012 Award. If you or your organisation have made a difference in empowering people by getting them online, then submit your story at http://www.e-inclusionawards.eu. I look forward to meeting the winners at the Digital Agenda Assembly in June!
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It has worked really great in Denmark aswell – Most people now get their official documents and bills via the internet.
Martha is doing sterling work in the UK, but until the infrastructure is fixed to deliver a fit for purpose connection to everyone then her work is in vain. We need some fibre. Moral and Optic, and to get out of the mindset that a victorian legacy phone network can ever deliver the connectivity we need at a price we can all afford. The ROI is for the government and the people, so it is them who should invest in Next Generation Access. They should stop funding going to the incumbent telcos to patch up their obsolete copper and should invest in new businesses delivering a futureproof solution. The digital champions should always remember this fact. They can’t do much without the pipes.
chris
I once found myself sitting in a presentation by Martha Lane Fox.
She described how much she was looking forward to the exciting time when we would all have chips implanted in us, and would synchronise our personal information using cloud technology. I turned to the person next to me in disbelief. Did I really just hear that? She wants to microchip people? Fortunately, he was circling his ears with his biro & crossing his eyes.
God help us if that is the kind of world people like you want Neely. Its nothing like what I want.
1 in 4 European adults have never used the Internet and 90% of jobs will require some level of digital literacy.Yes, but how many of these people are either too young, disabled, or too old to get a job or use the Internet? Why does this article assume that everyone should be pushed to be digital literate based on such vague statistics?
@WillBe, the data on those who haven’t used the Internet relates to EU adults aged 16-74 (and is available here: http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/digital-agenda/scoreboard/graphs/index_en.htm) . I’m not sure what “too disabled to use the Internet” means; maybe if there are some who can’t access the Internet, the Internet should be more accessible?
Normative individualism. I don’t think it is the role of the government to encourage the subjects of their democratic states whether to use the internet or not. Actually no one is “excluded”. This is just a neosocialist media divide narrative based on an unproven, postulated problem. People don’t need propagandists paid by public money to “raise their awareness”. These reach out campaigns are undemocratic and are build on an assumption that the lobby was smarter than the general population to define what people need. In fact these activities are about misappropriation of public money. I would want an amendment to the EU treaties to explicitly ban all “awareness raising” activities across policies of the European Commission.
Tomorrow, Monday, 27th of February, will start in Copenhagen the Digital
Single Market conference . http://eu2012.dk/en/Meetings/Conferences/Feb/~/media/Files/meetings/Programme_A%20Digital%20Single%20Market%20by%202015.ashx
It is a good opportunity to have a say in the future evolution of the
DSM and the importance of learning in the transformation process that will be
questioned during the conference’s two days.
Addressing the transformation that implies the
digitalization of the Single Market requires an in depth transformation that
goes beyond technical and legal aspects. Highlighting the importance of
information and knowledge as key drivers for growth would help put the emphasis
not only on high speed access, quality content, multiple devices, big data… but
also on education, training and the key competences and values that are
required to develop a successful life in a connected world.
While talking
of values, it is worth observe a feature of the World Mobile Congress - that should be a paradigm of the DSM – that starts
also this Monday. http://www.mobileworldcongress.com/keynote-speakers/
Out of the 30 confirmed keynote speakers at the World Mobile
Congress in Barcelona, 29 are men.
As Nelly Kroes said in
her blog
http://blogs.ec.europa.eu/neelie-kroes/every-woman-digital-plugging-the-ict-skills-gap/ : ” I continue to find it troubling that women are
under-represented in the ICT sector at every level, and particularly in
decision-making positions. And the situation doesn’t seem to be getting
better.”
The DSM is also about gender and social inclusion, competences and
social values!
Join the discussion at http://en.itst.dk/policy-strategy/a-digital-single-market-by-2015-european-high-level-conference/online-discussion
Na tem podrocju imam bogate izkusnje. V zadnjih treh mesecih, sem 72etniga v Spaniji, naucil uparabjati intenet. Sedaj cele noci srfa… Uporaba inmterneta je v Soveniji katastrofa. Starejsi od 50… o Bog. Seveda je to mesto ze oddano kaksnemu manj poznanemu UDBOVCU iz vrst SDS.
http://www.xinxii.com/en/slowenien-von-bolschewismus-bis-udbanazismus-p-312058.html
Every EU country needs a CIO (not a Digital Champion)!