**This article is written by Katie Lyne, Comms and Events Manager Office of the Chief Designer for Government of Scotland
**

Imagine going a day without your phone or data.

“Wonderful!”, you say, “A break from the hustle and bustle of daily life!”

Now imagine that that day is one whole week. And instead of the peace and quiet you expected, it  means you can no longer access the goods and services you need. Now imagine that week happens to fall during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Covid-19 has devastated lives across the globe. It is disrupting work, business and personal circumstance, yet all the while the human race remains resilient. Most of us have found ways to preserve, through things like online meetings and regular shopping deliveries.

So what if you have been living through this pandemic without internet access? Or a device? And then what if you’ve been told that you need to shield and stay in your own protective bubble?

It is estimated that as many as 800,000 people or 300,000 households in Scotland (out of a population of 5.4 million) were not online. People on lower incomes, and older or disabled people, may struggle to afford a device or internet connection, or may lack digital skills.

Thousands of people who due to these factors will have been among the most vulnerable to the virus, would subsequently have faced just this situation during lockdown. Not only was this detrimental to their mental and physical health, but it had a knock on effect of barring them from accessing information and vital public services.

Call to action

In March 2020, at the start of lockdown, Scotland IS (Scotland’s technology sector representative body) and Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) made a call to action. No one, the joined forces believed, should face digital exclusion in Scotland.

Hearing this, the Scottish Government formed a small team to  collaborate with public, private and 3rd sector organisations to establish Connecting Scotland. The program would provide kit (a device, data, training and support) to low income, digitally excluded households to enable them to access the digital services they needed, be it personal or professional.

Connecting Scotland understood that support is more than just providing a device. 20% of digitally excluded households have little or no essential digital skills

The program is run in phases, to target specific digitally excluded demographics. Phase 1 aimed at reaching those shielding or at high risk from Covid-19, with Phase 2 targeting low-income families, including pregnant women and young people leaving care.

The program works through collaboration with SCVO as delivery partners, all 32 local councils in Scotland and hundreds of third and public services. Each phase runs an application process on the connecting.scot website, with public and third sector organisations able to apply on behalf of their citizens and service users. Once applications are received, they are assessed by the local council representatives and SCVO to ensure that the organisation has the reach and capacity to support end users.

Within Scottish Government, the team combined policy, delivery and user centred design from the start, and believes it can leave legacy as an exemplar of collaborative development and delivery. They learned that it is possible to take an idea formed in an emergency and build a truly collaborative process that can identify those in need of the service. With this, they created a solid, sustainable pipeline for delivery.

Connecting Scotland understood that support is more than just providing a device. 20% of digitally excluded households have little or no essential digital skills. Training and support provided by Digital Champions is therefore essential to ensuring that recipients get the most out of the program.

Results

To date, Connecting Scotland has secured £43 million funding with the aim to get 50,000 people online by the end of 2021. Currently 9,000 households are receiving kit with immediate benefits being felt.

The program didn’t want people’s experience of using their device to be any different than if they had bought it themselves or received it as a present from friends and family

“Before receiving their iPad and internet access my neighbours were unable to order their repeat prescription online, renew their parking permits or complete online food shopping. Now they can do all the above as well as chat to friends and relatives on Skype, take part in online exercise classes and find online support in their local community,” said Nancy Bryson, Adult Community Services Manager, Space and Broomhouse hub.

Lessons learnt

Aside from empowering the people of Scotland, one of the most important things to come out of this program is the collaborative efforts of all organisations involved. It showed the power of the public, private and third sector to mobilise around an issue rapidly in a time of need, and to create a lasting legacy from the Covid-19 pandemic.

At the beginning of the program it was discussed whether devices would be gifted or loaned to recipients. The decision to gift was made for a number of reasons. One being to honour the values of the Scottish National Performance Framework that we are a society which treats people with kindness, dignity and compassion.

The program didn’t want people’s experience of using their device to be any different than if they had bought it themselves or received it as a present from friends and family. As well as supporting these values, cost benefit analysis has shown that this approach actually costs less than one which loans and manages devices.

Through running this initiative, Connecting Scotland is reducing digital inequality in Scotland and working towards creating an ethical and inclusive society. Those who are most likely to be digitally excluded are also most likely to suffer the worst economic consequences of the pandemic. This group is also more likely to need access to public services, something that is increasingly shifting online.

If you want to hear more about the Connecting Scotland program, email: ConnnectingScotland@gov.scot.

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