Written evidence submitted by Dr. Josie Barnard SFHEA to the House of Lords Communication and Digital Committee on Digital Exclusion.

Research led by Dr Barnard into how to enable ‘future-proofing’ (i.e. sustainable and resilient) digital upskilling demonstrates the need to a) support citizens’ development of digitally targeted creative flexibility and b) leverage ‘offline’ for online learning.

‘Online access is not the only factor in digital exclusion’, factors including ‘confidence in navigating the online sphere’ are ‘prerequisites to reaping the full benefits of the internet’.[1] Individuals’ levels of digital skills can go down as well as up.

Accepting the possibility that all citizens could become digitally excluded and thus prioritising investment that empowers individuals for long-term digital upskilling will benefit individuals and society.

To unlock value, we need an approach to digital exclusion by government and industry that responds robustly to the fact that access and basic training alone is not enough. We need that approach to embrace the fact that human responses such as lack of confidence and/or fear can be key.

Overall, Barnard’s findings support the need for approaches to digital engagement by government and industry that embrace broadened understandings of digital exclusion and invest in space for and initiatives that enable citizens to a) develop digitally targeted creative flexibility and b) embed offline in online learning.