The Go ON UK Digital Exclusion Heatmap - Philippa Lynch

What's the problem? Technology plays a vital part in our everyday life. But for those people and organisations without Basic Digital Skills, the benefits of the internet that we may take for granted remain locked away and out of reach.

Digital exclusion is a complex issue. There is no single cause, but a combination of factors contribute to a greater or lesser extent to the risk of exclusion. The headline numbers of for example, those who lack Basic Digital Skills or have never been online have been tracked for some time. But if we are serious about eradicating digital exclusion we need to better understand the detail behind those numbers and where and why there is an issue.

The Digital Exclusion Heatmap is Go ON UK’s response to this challenge, creating a single nationwide measure which, for the first time, highlights the likelihood of digital exclusion at Local Authority level across the UK.

This unique mapping tool combines eight known digital and social indicators of exclusion including broadband coverage, an estimated level of Basic Digital Skills, age and education. The Go ON UK Digital Exclusion Heatmap has been developed with support from the BBC as part of their Make It Digital and wider digital literacy initiatives, the Local Government Association (powered by LG Inform) and the London School of Economics and Political Science, using fresh insight into Basic Digital Skills in association with Lloyds Banking Group.

• Find out the likelihood of digital exclusion in your local area.

• Find out more about how the digital exclusion heatmap was created.