Digital Inclusion Alliance Wales releases second edition of ‘From Inclusion to Resilience’

In March 2021, Digital Inclusion Alliance Wales published ‘From Inclusion to Resilience: an agenda for digital inclusion’ setting out five priority areas where we felt DIAW could really make a difference.  Over the next two years, we used that agenda as our guide to focus our actions and to bring people together.

Since the launch of that first edition, the context has changed dramatically.  As our communities recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, new economic and social challenges lie ahead.  The cost of living crisis continues to deepen across the country, and people are having to make difficult choices about how they spend their money, pushing more people into digital exclusion.  Lloyds’ Consumer Digital Index found that by May 2022 an estimated 35 per cent of the population had already reported that the rising cost of living was impacting their ability to go online.    This makes our work in the five priority areas even more crucial.  It is vital that the work to create inclusive and resilient communities is maintained and accelerated.

DIAW has now published a second edition of the agenda to reflect on what has been achieved in the five priority areas and to look ahead at new challenges within these areas.  The five priority areas are:

Priority 1 – Embedding digital inclusion across all sectors

Priority 2 – Mainstreaming digital inclusion in health and social care

Priority 3 – Addressing data poverty as a key issue

Priority 4 – Prioritising essential digital skills for work and life in the economy

Priority 5 – Implementing a new minimum digital living standard

The times ahead are challenging but the Alliance will strive to ensure that digital inclusion continues to have a high profile for organisations across Wales and that it continues to establish itself as an effective and independent voice for digital inclusion in Wales.