Why we mustn’t get caught in the mouse trap

Now that I have lived in the UK for a number of years, I have inevitably become increasingly immersed in local culture. This means, of course, that I’ve become an expert at discussing the weather (although mostly in relation to its effect on mobile signal), and also familiarised myself with the myriad cookery and reality television programmes that seem to be the year-round talk of the office. Falling into the latter category, and of particular interest to anyone involved in business, is Dragons’ Den.

On one episode during the last series, a nervous couple were touting their portable mouse mat that fitted easily onto a sofa armrest or any given surface. While it was certainly a neat enough product, the Dragons rejected it on the grounds that it was solving a problem that was rapidly becoming obsolete – finding a suitable surface to use a mouse. It occurred to me that in many ways this idea was representative of the misdirected teaching that we are currently applying to solving the nation’s ‘digital divide’.

You may know the stats already, but they are worth repeating. There are nine million people in the UK who are offline. This is declining, but only slowly. In fact Age UK ‘s Digital Evidence Review found that that there are currently six million people in the UK who’ve never been online and 4.8 million of those are aged 65 and over.

When we talk about digital inclusion, we are referring not just to solving the commonly discussed problem of connecting rural communities that are being left behind because of slower broadband speeds, but also equipping people with the right skills to successfully get online. And it concerns me that it is the latter where we are falling short.

I believe that with the right skills and understanding, both motivation and trust will follow. Yet we are in a situation where digital inclusion programmes historically had a ‘PC-centric’ focus. This may be in part because the time it takes to make policy reality does not match the pace of technological change. But, as a result of not keeping pace, we are running the risk of creating a world of products and services from which older people are excluded, not necessarily because of lack of mobile or broadband speed, but because of lack of technical understanding. Which is frankly crazy, because these are products and services that are increasingly intuitive and easy-to-use.

Now please forgive the plug... This is why we have partnered with Age UK to launch the EE National Techy Tea Party Day, taking place tomorrow, 9 September. National Techy Tea Party Day will take place in over 500 of our stores from 9.30am-11am and in our offices and contact centres, where we’ll host events offering one-to-one support for anyone who wants to improve their basic digital skills. We have invited charities, businesses and local communities to get involved and support the day – and we’ve been overwhelmed with the response.

Technological evolution is as exciting as it is unrelenting. But we have a duty to make sure that this progress does not leave anyone behind. We have the keys to grant anybody access to the advantages of the internet, and it takes only a small change in approach to allow everybody to walk through the door.