Nearly one in four adults – around 12 million people – do not have basic online skills, according to a report that reveals considerable regional differences in digital exclusion. According to the study, people in London, Scotland and East Anglia were most adept online, while people in Wales are the least digitally skilled. Baroness Martha Lane-Fox, who founded Lastminute.com, said that poor digital skills was holding the UK back. “We should be striving to be the most digitally forward nation. I think that’s going to be essential – the internet is not going to be less pronounced, it is going to get more,” she said.
“The fact that millions of adults cannot do four things online we deem as the lowest level of entry to the internet not only holds them back, but also holds the country back. I would argue that’s partly why we have the productivity challenges we do. The people who can benefit most from these things are also the most excluded.”
The research is based on polling by Ipsos Mori of 4,000 people aged 15 and older in Great Britain and Northern Ireland about their abilities online. The charity Go ON UK, which Lane-Fox chairs, and Lloyds Banking Group asked about five basic skills: managing information, communicating, transacting, problem-solving and creating. The report found that adults in London are most likely to be able to do all five (84%), followed by Scotland and East Anglia (both 81%), while Wales had the lowest proportion (62%).
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