Good Things, partners, supporters and hubs gather to celebrate our work towards fixing the digital divide

Fix The Digital Divide event

On a sunny summer day at the House of Lords, we brought together our strategic partners, Digital Inclusion Hubs, funders and supporters to celebrate the impact we’ve made together towards fixing the digital divide. With views of the Thames River and London Eye in the background, the atmosphere was on fire – and not just because of the heat! 

It’s been one year since we launched our new strategy, and we hosted our Fix The Digital Divide event to commemorate what we’ve achieved so far. With the ambition to grow and support 5,000 Digital Inclusion Hubs and engage 1 million people to help them benefit from the digital world by 2025, we are already making great strides for digital inclusion.

The power of partnership

There was a real passion for digital inclusion not just from the attendees, but from our fantastic strategic partners who spoke during the event. 

Nicki Lyons, Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Director at Vodafone, discussed the work we’re doing together to help millions of people cross the digital divide, saying “we need the Government’s Digital Exclusion Strategy to be further up the agenda… we really want to be on the journey with you.”

Chris Ashworth, Head of Public Benefit at Nominet, said ‘a few short,’ very kind words about Good Things Foundation and the power of partnership – he brightened the room with his uplifting speech. 

Dana Haidan, Chief Sustainability Officer at Virgin Media O2, explained how they’ve seen the impact that digital inclusion hubs can have on our society, and they can’t connect people “without a partnership like Good Things.”

Our impact on digital inclusion

The room lit up when we announced some of the impact we have made together in just one year:

• 79,000+ new registrations on Learn My Way
• 4,000+ refurbished devices given to hubs through the National Device Bank
• 181,798+ free SIM cards distributed through the National Databank
• 1,200+ new members in the National Digital Inclusion Network

…but more on that coming when we release our full impact review on July 26th!

Digital Inclusion Hubs at the heart

Founders and representatives from some of the Digital Inclusion Hubs in the National Digital Inclusion Network were sharing stories about how they’re helping digitally excluded people in their communities through Learn My Way, the National Device Bank and the National Databank.

One Hub explained they’re supporting refugees in temporary accommodation with free data so that they can contact their families back home, complete key paperwork and look for jobs and educational opportunities – all things they wouldn’t be able to do without support from their local community Digital Inclusion Hub.

Getting digital inclusion on the Government’s agenda

There was also a lot of talk about our evidence underpinning the House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee’s inquiry into digital exclusion. The report was unknowingly perfectly timed with our event having been released just one week prior, giving us yet another reason to celebrate in a very appropriate venue! 

It’s safe to say everyone left feeling incredibly inspired and ready to collaborate to tackle digital exclusion and #FixTheDigitalDivide in the UK.  As Lord Knight of Weymouth said when opening the event, “the possibilities of technology are only a reality if we have equity… We have to continue the fight to ensure everyone has equitable access [to digital].”