Councils Will Make Savings With Online Services
26 February 2010
As Champion for the Digital Inclusion Task Force, Martha Lane Fox is working with a team of experts from a range of related organisations to create better education, health, governmental and social opportunities for the most socially-excluded people in the UK.
The project's Race Online 2012 program focuses on encouraging local council executives to spearhead efforts to get excluded citizens online by 2012. The goal is to reach out to the ten million people in the UK who have never used the internet. Beginning with regional meetings with council chiefs in February, Ms. Lane Fox hopes to get at least 80% on board with these objectives through joining Race Online 2012 and DC10plus, a collaborative network of local authorities which aims to promote social inclusion through the use of technology.
A Pricewaterhouse Cooper report from October of 2009, called "The Economic Case for Digital Inclusion," showed that councils can save £3.30 - £12.00 per transaction by providing services online. One online contact per month per citizen who is not currently using the internet could save £900 million per year in the UK, and getting everyone online could save over £22 billion all-told. Conducting routine business online also frees up council employees to deal more cost effectively with citizens when personal attention to a problem or request is required.
On the other side of the equation, the Digital Inclusion Task Force estimates that £560 in savings per year can be achieved when families begin to shop and pay bills over the internet, and it is the most comprehensive resource available for those looking for employment and educational opportunities. These economic factors are at the core of the task force's efforts. Ms. Lane Fox said recently:
“It is often the people facing the toughest times who have the most to gain from what technology has to offer and, as the internet is rapidly becoming a tool for everyday life, we should work together to make sure everyone can benefit. We want to show that there is both a moral and an economic imperative for the wider community to take the issue of digital inclusion much more seriously."
Ms. Lane Fox hopes to use her experiences and powers of persuasion to break down the barriers of resistance to conducting business on the internet and to combat the anxiety and misunderstandings that often prevent those who have never used the internet from benefiting from the digital world.
