There are vast amounts of initiatives to bridge the gap of the Digital Divide and they are all sponsored by the government. There is a list of the range of initiatives offered in the UK, however it is not intended to be exhausted. It keeps track of what has been done and also the amount of investment that has been put into an area.
UK Online - This is a government project that aims to give computer access to those people in the community who do not know about computers. The idea is to teach them new ICT skills and it has taken off well. There is now over 6,000 UK centres that are located in lots of libraries and schools. This seems like a very good program for people who lack ICT skills, with Digital Technologies becoming more predominant is many people's lives it is very relevant for more people to use computers. If it has only been running 7 years and they have 6,000 centres that function on a regular basis this means that there is a high demand for this service. I can also see how this would help to close the gap in the divide. This would be by widening skills in ICT for people who don't know and understand so the gap will get smaller.
University for Industry (UFI) - This is a partnership between the government and private industries. It is in place to improve job prospects for individuals who are not confident in ICT and making them more competitive for businesses. Working as a public-private partnership, UFI aims to put people into better positions to get jobs and improve career prospects. This seems like a good initiative as it allows people who are unemployable due to lack of education in ICT to obtain enough skills to allow them to become employable. This reduces unemployment in the UK and this is how the government benefits from the scheme. As for the business side of things, having a person who is competent in ICT will allow them to promote and offer better jobs within the company to the person so they can feel motivated from making progress in their job.
Wired up Communities Initiative - £10 million funding was provided by this initiative to connect 7 of the most disadvantaged communities to the internet to see what effect this would have. In east London 750 households and one school was connected to the internet, this was in the hope that it would make education better and improve job opportunities. I can vastly see how this could improve the current state of the divide. A lot of activity occurs on the internet and giving internet to that many homes and a school widens that activity to them. this now means that potentially 750 more people can apply for jobs online. This is apparent considering that most job applications are done over the internet. As for the school, the teachers can set homework on the computer for the child to do when they go home. This will allow them to not only see if the child has done it or not but also allows them to give online help to that child.
People's Network Project (Hertfordshire) - This initiative was designed to give free access to 400 computers with internet, Microsoft Office software and even photo editing software, these resources would be available in most of the libraries in Hertfordshire. Even the smallest of their libraries have at least one computer in for people to use. This is good for bridging the divide because as it offers everybody in the community an opportunity to get on the internet. This can be for whatever reason like applying for a job, putting together a CV for a job application or even just researching and looking for information. This closes the gap as it allows people without a computer and internet at home to be able to do this they wouldn't be able to do on their own.
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