Access to data means everyone can get online
The final pillar of digital inclusion: connectivity. Having access to data for your device doesn't just connect you to the internet; it connects you with opportunity. But not everyone can afford to get online, and due to the cost-of-living crisis more and more people are cancelling their home broadband. 2.5 million UK households now struggle to afford it, and 1 in 14 households have no home internet access at all.
We setup the National Databank with support from Virgin Media O2 and donated mobile SIM cards loaded with data from Virgin Media O2, Vodafone and Three. It's like a foodbank but for data connectivity! Community organisations can apply to access the databank, enabling them to distribute free data and help people in their communities get online.
This Get Online Week, learn more about data poverty and what we're doing to tackle it in our latest podcast episode.
Listen in: Unlocking good things through the National Databank
Our Head of Research and Data Insights, Katie Heard, joins Phoebe to talk about the deepening issue of data poverty in our society, how it affects people, and how the National Databank is helping by providing free mobile connectivity data.
"It's a lifeline." Help people in your community get online
Members of the National Digital Inclusion Network can apply for free SIM cards to give to people in their communities. Join thousands of community organisations who describe this connectivity as a lifeline for people.
Find out more about the National Databank.
More good things to come
During Get Online Week, happening 16-22nd October, we'll be sharing more information on the pillars that help people get online: data, devices and skills delivered through community intervention.
Keep an eye out for our daily articles which link out to our podcast, exciting news and inspiring stories from people who have changed their lives after getting access to digital.
Share this article with any of your friends, family, colleagues or fellow digital inclusion advocates to help spread the word: we must work together to fix the digital divide and help digitally excluded people get online!