Hackney residents stuck on wrong side of digital divide

Shaun Ashby Milton Gardens Estate

A third of estate families do not have access to broadband. Photo: Hackney Citizen

Many local residents are still on the wrong side of Hackney’s ‘digital divide’, the council has been told.

The digitising of public services such as benefits and driving licence applications typifies the inexorable drive online. And with 90 per cent of new jobs now requiring computer skills, the estimated 25 per cent of Hackney households not using the internet are increasingly disconnected.

A 2007 report by UK Online pointed to three key barriers to ‘digital inclusion’:  access, motivation and skills and confidence. At a meeting of the council’s social inclusion commission, Chris Peacock, the council’s Assistant Director for ICT, described access and connectivity as a cost issue for many residents. Following this, she said that language issues, and ‘demystifying the internet’ were further key factors which needed tackling.

Much is already being done. Hackney’s libraries will soon provide access to over 200 PCs, and they currently offer training courses in computer skills. At a meeting of the council’s social inclusion commission last week, Geoff Carter, Head of ICT at the Learning Trust, detailed schools’ participation in the Home Access and Computers for Pupils schemes. Both are aimed at tackling digital exclusion by working with families and school facilities, and have enjoyed ‘excellent’ take-up rates.

Furthermore, council data on access to its website also noted a 15 per cent increase in absolute unique visitors in 2010. This does not, however, equate to a narrowing of the digital divide.

The commission’s discussion of an open-access Wi-Fi network was mooted, following suggestions such a service would largely be used by those already connected. Regarding network solutions, Peacock said Hackney could learn from other councils’ strategies. Next door in Islington, the council has rolled out free internet access on council estates.

Despite this, there will inevitably be issues of exclusion particular to the make-up of Hackney’s population. The Haredi Jewish community’s cultural aversions to computer use were singled out as an example of the limitations of implementing a vision of universal technological adaptation.

The Commission’s review is likely to continue until September, when considerations will be put before the full council.

3 Comments

  1. Barbie on Wednesday 23 February 2011 at 22:06

    but if you can afford an apple lap top as in the picture you can afford your own wifi connection…and if the Haredi have a cultural aversion to computer use perhaps it is with good reason as the occupants of public housing are about to be bombarded with wifi microwaves regardless of choice



  2. […] authorities should be cautious when moving towards greater digital deliver of services – as this story from Hackney illustrates. Better Connected also suggests that some councils should be thinking beyond digital and planning […]



  3. Tony N on Tuesday 1 March 2011 at 20:47

    The reality of the digital divide has been discussed by councils across the UK for the past 12 years that I know of. From web portals spanning multi-borough environments to council services accessed via the red button (this was with telewest pre virgin days). Trials and even projects getting off the ground but they failed as funding over a period of years is a reat concept until the next budget cut to keep services or reduce council tax increases prior to re-election.

    The concept I liked best was a distrbuted wi fi network that a council could create using wireless technology for CCTV. The public could access the network with a unique encryption key that is given to council tax payers when the council tax statement is sent out.

    However Jules wants the borough to look good for 2012 so no chance of the residents of hackney getting the council to help move everyone forward into the 21st Century



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