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Digital inclusion in Wales since 2005

Welsh Government has been working with the Wales Co-operative Centre to address digital exclusion in Wales since 2005.

Welsh Government funding has delivered four major initiatives: Communities@One, Communities 2.0, Digital Communities Wales and now Digital Communities Wales – Digital Confidence, Health and Well-being. This work has made a significant contribution to addressing the digital divide in Wales.

Communities @One

From 2005 until 2009, Communities @One provided funding and support to community organisations to help them purchase digital equipment, including laptops and tablets, so they could deliver digital inclusion activities.

Communities 2.0

Between 2009 and 2015, we supported 1520 enterprises and community organisations which worked with digitally excluded people. Through training and outreach activities, we directly helped 59,031 individuals to get online. We also established a number of county ‘Get Online’ partnerships.

Digital Communities Wales

Between April 2015 and June 2019, our Digital Communities Wales project supported organisations in digital inclusion. In the first two years of the project, we supported 642 organisations, including local authorities, health boards, housing associations, charities, libraries and community organisations. This work helped 69,203 people to get online, 5108 of whom reported that their employability had been enhanced as a result. We also recruited 1133 digital volunteers who are passing on their skills to help others experience the benefits of using ICT.

Digital Communities Wales – Digital Confidence, Health and Well-being

Digital Communities Wales – Digital Confidence, Health and Well-being launched in July 2019 to help people increase their confidence using digital technology, with the aim of improving and managing their health and wellbeing. Delivered by the Wales Co-operative Centre, in partnership with the Good Things Foundation and Swansea University, the project has a team of advisers and trainers working throughout Wales. Through partnerships developed with organisations across all sectors –  including health boards, non-statutory care providers, Local Authorities and charities – we enable the people they support to use digital technology in a way suited to their personal lives, including management of health conditions, reducing loneliness and isolation and enjoying the wider opportunities digital can offer.