News tagged 'changing what people think feel or do'

Ellen Helsper, London School of Economics

Is the UK a digital leader?  Or are we leaving behind the most vulnerable members of our society?  As many services become digital by default, we risk  excluding those who need services the most. 

It’s time for a rethink. Policies and initiatives that take digital by default as a starting point ignore the complexity of the field they manoeuvre in. Worse, they carry a real danger that a large part of the population will become digitally excluded by default. That should not be acceptable in a country that wants to be Europe’s information society frontrunner.

As the government plans to make public services ‘digital by default’ these individuals will be unable to access them, not because of a lack of infrastructure but because of a lack of effective take-up of the available connections.

As the Race Online initiative comes to an end, circa 24% of the UK population remains digitally excluded of which about half is also deeply socially excluded.  Continued focus on rolling out superfast broadband is ensuring that many more of us are able to benefit from high quality infrastructure.  These technological improvements are being supported by promotion of employment-related digital skills.  However, initiatives are being driven outside the social, cultural, educational and political sphere which provide the critical context in delivering real engagement with, and benefit from, the internet.

Those who need access to services most, from where the biggest cost savings of making services digital are supposed to come, are the least likely to take these up online, even when access to the internet is available.

This can be partly explained by examining reasons for not being online, evidenced by a significant shift over the last 7 years: in 2005 only 50% of non-users indicated a lack of interest as a reason for not being online, while in 2011 disinterest was a reason for 88% of non-users. Simultaneously, the other reasons (lack of access, costs being too high and lack of skills) did not decrease significantly in importance (69%, 44% and 78% respectively in 2011 versus 68%, 52% and 74% in 2005). Source: Non-users of internet (Oxford Internet Survey Data 2005 – 2011)

There is now a much higher proportion of non-users who are excluded for compound reasons.  The policy implications for this are that initiatives and interventions that focus on providing access are less effective in 2011 than they were in 2005. While in 2005 organisations that provided training might have been able to ‘lure’ people into their centres by offering free computer use and free digital skills classes, this offer is now less likely to sufficiently motivate those who are excluded to engage with the internet and online services.

The digital by default policy implicitly assumes that once services and content are online, people will (have to) use them and that, at the point of ubiquitous and uniform access, the level of take up will be equivalent for everyone. If this assumption is wrong, the policy is likely to be costly both in economic and social terms. Those currently excluded lack not only high quality access but are also less motivated and skilled individuals and are therefore unlikely to take full advantage of the range of opportunities available online. Extra support for a group of individuals who need services the most will be needed if aspects of inclusion other than infrastructure and skills are not built into digital inclusion policies.

This is not the first time this argument has been made, but the changing landscape, in which the digitally excluded have become more entrenched in their exclusion and are facing multiple, cumulative barriers to exclusion unlike those faced by previous generations of digitally excluded individuals, means that the argument needs to be made even more forcefully than before.  It is incumbent upon government and local authorities to ensure that the digitization of services does not leave our most vulnerable members of society behind.  Provision must be made to provide motivation and support to engage those with multiple barriers in the digital world and to ensure that those who do not engage are not marginalized further in our society.

Digital Outreach’s new brand Convey is working with local voluntary and community sector organisations on a campaign to reduce blockages in the water system.

Anglian Water, in collaboration with social marketing experts Corporate Culture, identified the principal areas and neighbourhoods which had repeat blockages, and two priority audience groups. We designed an outreach programme to engage local community groups to help spread the messages to target households. Supported by training, literature, grants and giveaways to make disposing of waste easier, our partners cascaded the message about disposal of waste to other local organisations.

One of the organisations working on the project is Northampton Volunteer Centre.  Dana Hannon, Information, Marketing, Events & BME Engagement Officer, with LINk (an organisation hosted by Northampton Volunteer Centre) has been going out and about to talk to local groups.

Dana says. “We were in a great position to work on the Keep it Clear project. We regularly go to visit local groups across Northamptonshire to find out what their issues and concerns are about health services. The groups already knew us, so nothing had to be set up from scratch, which made it much easier for us to talk to them about water use.”

The target audience is women aged between 18 and 45 in very specific areas, so Dana and her team have targeted the groups that supported women in this age group. Dana said: “It’s not as simple as just going to the geographical areas where the problems are, we needed to find the groups that women living in those areas attend.”

Dana found one very important group was the local Neighbourhood Watch which put them in touch with some very localised, informal groups that they wouldn’t have been able to reach otherwise. “These groups might just support people who live in a few streets, so they rely on word of mouth and don’t advertise,” Dana says. “The Neighbourhood Watch is a really active group and our relationship with them was key to getting in touch with these smaller groups.”

Dana found that talking to people face to face about the subject has been very effective. “People have been very responsive. Being able to give people the information face to face really helped, as lots of people didn’t realise that the things they were doing every day were causing problems.  People don’t always take in a poster but if you’ve handed them information and discussed it with them, it reinforces that the message. They also have the opportunity to ask questions and find out what they can do to dispose of fats in an alternative way.”

Having materials to give away was important too. “People loved the sink strainers, and the bags went down exceptionally well too!” Dana says. “This is all making people aware of how they can safely dispose of fats and grease, which will help make a positive difference to local water systems.”

The outreach programme has benefited Northampton Volunteer Centre and Northamptonshire LINk too.  “Although we have great networks with our communities, working on this project has introduced us to new, more informal, groups that we had never heard of before – particularly the groups we got in touch with through Neighbourhood Watch. They are now in contact with us and we can communicate with them about other issues that might be important to them. It’s helped raise awareness of our organisation amongst these people too, which will help us to achieve our aims of supporting people and groups in the community and voluntary sector.”

Thanks to Northampton LINk and all the other organisations working on the Keep it Clear campaign.

Case studies

Mums & Tots - Methodist Church, Park Avenue North

The Mums & Tots Group meets every week at the local Methodist Church. Around 20 parents come to the group each week, with their children.  Northamptonshire LINk contacted the church to say they were talking to lots of different groups about water use and asked if they could come and talk to the mothers’ and toddlers’ group.

The group hadn’t realised the environmental cost of putting things like baby wipes down the toilet - as many wipes are advertised as ‘flushable’ they hadn’t considered that there could be any problem with getting rid of wipes in this way. The group often visit parks and open areas with their children, so they were concerned about smells and environmental damage in their neighbourhoods and were very keen to help by taking the simple step of putting wipes into the bin.

Northampton Bangladeshi Association

The Northampton Bangladeshi Association supports members of the Bangladeshi community of all ages to access training, education, health services and to give the Bangladeshi community a voice. Dana from Northamptonshire LINk went to visit the group leader, Ms Begum, to have a chat with her and explain the Keep it Clear campaign.  Ms Begum said that she uses lots of oil in her cooking, as this is an important ingredient in many Bangladeshi dishes.  Like many of us, she didn’t realise that oil in its liquid form can actually cause blockages, and that there are other ways of disposing of it safely.  She said she would pass this information on to the various groups she supports, and reported back that the sink strainers had gone down very well and that everyone is now aware of how to dispose of fat, oil and grease appropriately.

An article in The Guardian, How to lift the digital age barrier, investigates how to overcome the barriers to older people getting online. The article says the key to getting this diverse group of people online is to help them see the value by tapping into their individual interests.

Digital Outreach’s pilot project in 2010, ‘Get Connected, Get Online’, tested this approach by working with local interest groups in the North West to help them see the personal benefits of using the internet. The project brought about some encouraging results, with 62% of participants reporting a positive behaviour change towards the internet. You can read more about the outcomes of this project here.

In July 2011, Digital Outreach’s new brand Convey delivered community outreach sessions as part of a pilot campaign in Peterborough to help reduce blockages in wastewater pipes and drains. The campaign – commissioned by Anglian Water and managed by social marketing company Corporate Culture - aimed to change people’s behaviour around the waste they put down sinks and toilets.

Blockages in water pipes cause 15,000 blockages a year in the area and cost over £7m a year to clear and prevent. The campaign was very successful, with blockages reduced by more than 60% over just a few weeks. It had a significant impact on people’s attitudes and actions, with the number of people agreeing that reducing blockages is a shared responsibility rising from 52% to 92%, and the percentage saying they were making an extra effort to get rid of waste rising from 51% to 72%. (Source: Street survey, sample of 200 customers)

Anglian Water is now rolling out the project to other ‘hot spots’ where blockages are an issue for local communities. A spectacular animated light show in Peterborough marked the launch of the campaign and explained to residents why the campaign is happening.

Case study – working with the Islamic community in Peterborough
The pilot campaign included a ward in Peterborough where approximately 60% of the population is Muslim. The messaging of the campaign linked in very well with the Islamic faith, which places a high value on water, its purity and cleanliness. Convey approached Peterborough Islam to see if they could help spread the message. The organisation was only too happy to help, and local Imams spoke to over 3,000 people at Friday prayers about the importance of keeping water clean and how residents could take action to reduce contamination in the water in their own communities. Peterborough Islam’s women’s workers were also able to reach Muslim women’s groups to talk to them about putting waste like cooking fat, baby wipes and other items into the bin rather than down the sink or toilet into the water supply.



Convey will be working with Southend Association of Voluntary Services to deliver outreach in the Southend area, and will soon be engaging more voluntary and community sector organisations to help deliver the programme in Northampton, Bedford, Lincoln and Norwich. Supported by training, literature, small grants and giveaways like ‘fat traps’ to make disposing of waste easier, these organisations will cascade the message to other local groups like community groups, children’s centres, faith groups, mother and toddler groups and pre-schools.

The outreach delivered by Convey will link in with activities provided by Anglian Water such as roadshows, engagement with local businesses street teams (to talk to local businesses) and traditional marketing activities like radio/press adverts and posters.

Encouraging results from the pilot project

The results of the pilot project showed the campaign had a big impact on attitudes and behaviours around the disposal of waste.

The chart below shows the rise in concern amongst domestic customers about blockages in wastewater pipes and drains following the pilot. (Source: Street survey, 200 customers)

The chart below shows very large increases in understanding, importance, responsibility and belief that it is easy to act among domestic customers.

If you would like to be amongst the first to hear about new projects such as these, update your details on our database.

Keep It Clear is part of Anglian Water's groundbreaking Love Every Drop sustainability campaign to bring people together to put water at the heart of a new way of sustainable living.

The UK's analogue TV era will come to an end on October 24, 2012, it was announced today.

Eighty years from the first experimental broadcasts, the old five-channel system will be switched off for good.

The digital television switchover started in 2008, giving millions of viewers extra channels and clearer pictures. There are just four million people left in Britain watching analogue TV, according to Digital UK.

All set for the future: The digital switchover has been taking place for the past few years, with 23million households now enjoying multi-channel TV

SO WHICH REGIONS HAVE YET TO MAKE THE SWITCH?

Anglia: This region is underway and completes next month, November  2011

Meridian: February to June 2012

London: April 2012

Tyne Tees: September 2012

Northern Ireland: October 2012

Announcing the end-date for analogue TV and switchover, David Scott, Digital UK chief executive, said: ‘The analogue era was a defining period for TV but the fully digital age will be even better, with a greater choice of channels for viewers everywhere.

‘I'm looking forward to October next year when we will have brought the benefits of digital to every corner of the country.’

The first experimental analogue television broadcasts started in August 1932.

The technology was officially launched by the BBC in 1936 and went on to inform and entertain viewers with coverage of landmark events such as the moon landings and classic shows from Nationwide to Morecambe and Wise.

At its conclusion in 2012, inside the timetable set out by Government, more than 15million new viewers will have been brought into coverage for Freeview services, Digital UK said.

WHY IS BRITAIN SPENDING MILLIONS GOING DIGITAL?

Households in many parts of the UK are currently unable to receive multi-channel TV services.

Switching off the existing analogue broadcasting system will create the capacity necessary to extend coverage to the whole country.

Broadcasting in digital format is also a more efficient way to transmit television signals and will free up airwaves for new services such as ultra-fast wireless broadband and mobile television.

The organisation added it was on course to complete the project at least £53million under budget.

The last analogue TV signals will be switched off in Northern Ireland where ‘virtually all’ households will receive the new digital signal ‘including half-a-million viewers who cannot receive it now’.

To help the elderly make the switch to the potentially confusing new digital era the BBC set up a Digital Switchover Help Scheme.

However, Age UK found that many older people who needed financial or technical support to make the switch to digital TV did not qualify for this help, so they formed a secondary help group.

A spokesperson for the organisation said: 'To tackle this problem, Age UK, along with Community Service Volunteers formed Digital Outreach Ltd which offers advice and support both to those who are eligible for the Help Scheme and those who benefit from extra support and advice but are not eligible.

'They focus on those with sensory, mobility or dexterity impairments, people with learning difficulties, people with mental health issues, those who speak English as a second language and socially isolated people.'