Dr. Alice Mathers:

I am grateful for the invitation to appear before the committee. We appreciate being able to speak among these other experts.

Digital technology is transforming how we engage with the world around us at work and at home. As the world increasingly moves online, it is vital to ensure that no one is left behind thereby failing to benefit from the economic and social opportunities that digital can provide. Good Things Foundation is a social change charity, focused on digital inclusion, that works in the UK and Australia to help people lead better lives through digital. Our work has provided us with a good understanding of the importance of digital literacy in these contexts and the scale of the digital divide.

In the UK, 4.1 million adults have never used the Internet.

A further 7.8 million lack the essential digital skills needed for day-to-day life and 53% of the working population do not have the digital skills needed for work. It is estimated that 2.5 million adults are offline in Australia, with a further 4 million classed as limited users. An estimated 4 million Australians use their mobile phones to get online and have no fixed connection. Those with limited skills are more likely to live in rural areas while those online are more likely to be younger, wealthier and more educated. Those with disabilities are less likely to benefit from the digital age. Having a low income, low literacy and numeracy skills and low self-confidence are all compounding factors that can intensify digital exclusion. Key motivational barriers can also prevent people from engaging with digital, particularly those who think digital is not for them, who feel they lack support or who perceive it as too complicated or too expensive.

At Good Things Foundation, we believe that community organisations are best placed to deliver basic digital skills support to those most vulnerable to being excluded from the benefits of the digital age. We have developed a highly effective, mission-led, scaled operational model that works collaboratively with thousands of local community organisations to deliver digitallearning. This is teamed with a blended model of online learning content and offline support. In the UK, Good Things Foundation co-ordinates the Online Centres Network comprising more than 5,000 hyper-local grassroots organisations including community centres, small charities, work clubs, health centres, advice centres, libraries and even a fish and chip shop. All are independent of us and all are based in the heart of their communities.

Good Things Foundation Australia was established in 2017, having won an Australian Federal Government contract to create a digital inclusion network based on our learnings from the UK. In under two years, we were able to recruit a local network of more than 2,700 organisations. Such investment in digital skills support benefits not only individuals, but communities and society. It increases people's earning potential and their likelihood of finding employment, promotes financial inclusion and decreases loneliness and social isolation, as well as providing time and cost savings for both individuals and government services. As such, we believe that digital technology can be an enabler, can help us to solve some of our greatest social challenges and can change lives. We encourage the Irish Parliament to adopt a nationally co-ordinated, community-centred approach to increasing adult digital literacy.