Circularity for social good: meet the Public Sector Pioneers
A suitable device is essential for digital inclusion. The continuing cost of living crisis is putting this out of reach for millions. We can fix this, says Good Things' Group CEO Helen Milner.
Our National Device Bank can help to fix this, complementing local repair and reuse schemes – but only if the supply of donated devices grows to meet demand.
Demand for devices from the National Device Bank is five times greater than supply, and nearly 7 in 10 digital inclusion hubs have told us that not having devices to give digitally excluded people holds back their vital work in communities.
Last month, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology committed to identify a roadmap to future donation of DSIT devices, and to encourage others to do the same. There’s now a new Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Tech and the Digital Economy – Minister Saqib Bhatti MP – who will hopefully honour this commitment and take it forward with urgency and with vision.
This is urgent. And this is about vision. A vision which brings both social and environmental goals together – reducing e-waste and fixing the digital divide. It is about being resourceful. It is about ‘doing the right thing’.
Our new research in collaboration with University of Liverpool, is out today. It builds on our previous research with Deloitte and the Circular Electronics Partnership which mainly focused on enablers and barriers for businesses. This time, we learn from leaders and champions in health, education, government, at all levels, about their perspectives on donating devices to help fix the digital divide.
Join Good Things online on Tuesday 12th December at 12pm on Zoom for an online hour of research findings and panel debate with public sector leaders:
Click here to register for our Public Sector Pioneers online event.