Online savings

Martha Lane Fox
UK digital champion

Local government can help boost the economy by encouraging residents to use the internet, writes Martha Lane Fox.

More than a fifth of the British population are missing out on access to public services and employment opportunities because they do not use the internet.

That’s why this month I launched the ‘Manifesto for a networked nation’, a rallying cry for government, industry and charities to take urgent action to help get every British citizen of working age online by the end of 2012.

Around 10 million adults in Britain have never used the internet.

The average family misses out on £560 of savings a year by being offline, and consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers estimate that if everyone were online the total benefit to the economy would exceed £22bn.

The disadvantages of being offline are becoming so great and growing at such a pace, that for reasons of social justice and economic necessity we must act now to inspire, encourage and support everyone in the UK to get online.

Local government is key to delivering our vision of a truly networked nation, and a number of councils have already signed up to be a partner through our race online 2012 campaign, pledging to do what they can to help get their staff and residents online.

Altogether 600 partners have signed up so far, committing to get an extra 1.75m people online by the end of the Olympic year.

Our manifesto sets out how we think local government can really help us to make a difference.

First, by providing real leadership, embedding online into everything you do and ‘thinking internet first’ in designing and delivering services.

Second, by joining up access to existing community IT facilities and signposting people to available resources, so that we ‘sweat’ our assets over the coming years, including opening up schools and other facilities for out-of-hours access.

And thirdly, by supporting local digital champions in every community who can identify people who need help to get online, and make sure they get it.

I want to hear your views both on what you are already doing to help get people online, and what more I can do, as the UK digital champion, to support you in making the networked nation a reality.

Please go to www.raceonline2012.org, read the manifesto and sign up to be a partner, because we will all be better off when everyone is online.

• Martha Lane Fox is the UK digital champion