Digital Push and the need for Digital Literacy

The UK Government is planning to boost the profile of the Digital Industry (BBC), which is worth £50 billion to the UK economy. Among the announcements are plans to improve broadband speed and access across the country. The report (Digital Britain) led by Lord Carter also demonstrates the increasing prominent role of convergence technologies with the report considering the role of digital broadcasting as well as Internet access.

We live in times of great change in how we access and use information and entertainment. At the time of the last recession in the 1990′s mobile phones were still a rarity for the masses, broadband for home users was a ‘pipe dream’ , personal video recorders were just a vague phrase. Even the Web, which we increasingly take for granted was a new idea and only a few years old.

In the 10 – 15 years since then, everything has changed. It’s assumed you have a mobile phone and the majority of homes have access to the Internet. Increasingly Government services are available via the Web and now even via the Mobile Web. In that time technology has converged; the same device you phone home on might be the one you use to catch-up on the latest soap when travelling home or check your emails on. With the increasing amount of Internet connectivity that is constantly available then it is inevitable that it changes the way we work, socialise and live. This is similar to how mass literacy programs affected the UK and the world in previous times.

…And it is a new literacy that is required now. There are a multitude of opportunities for businesses to save money using these convergence technologies, to improve their productivity in difficult times but for many the skills are lacking. Our formal education systems needs to catch-up with the changes as well and once caught-up needs to keep-up. There is a need to move from being focused on the technology itself to how we use the technology so that Digital Literacy becomes a transferable skill, just like reading and writing.

For those already in work the same skills need to be taught. Recession means a changing working landscape and the technologies of the last 15 years are going to play an important role in the recovery. Companies need to be making sure they have the skills available to make the right decisions about the their Digital Strategy.

This consultancy 3 Sheep is very interested in helping business address that skills shortage and make better use of their digital assets and opportunities and anyone interested in talking further should use the contact form.

Since the last recession the way we use Digital Technologies has transformed the world. Now as we face the next recession we need to make sure the skills are there to make the best use of those investments.