Moving On magazine Careers and Qualifications for School Leavers
The digital age is definitely upon us and according to the charity Go ON UK more than 12 million people in the UK lack the basic digital skills necessary to succeed.
According to their research, 23% of adults in the UK lack even basic digital skills as do 1.2 million SMEs.
Digital skills
The five basic digital skills that the charity identifies are:
- Information management
- Communication
- Online transactions
- Problem solving
- Creating digital content
The Government’s advisor, Baroness Martha Lane Fox has warned that there is a danger to the productivity and economic growth of the UK as a whole. In addition to this, she has argued that the spiky profile of digital skills seen across the UK is a threat to social mobility as some areas of the UK are left behind.
The digital heat map
Go ON UK has produced a digital skills heat map with support from others including the BBC, as part of its Make it Digital campaign.
This heat map provides an overview of those places in the UK where digital exclusion is most likely to occur. The factors that contribute to this are complex and include accessibility issues. For example, Shropshire is one area where digital exclusion is high and 19.8% of all adults have never been online. Similarly, in Conwy, 76% of inhabitants have the five basic digital skills, however only 39% have used these skills in the last three months.
How a lack of digital skills threaten business
Falling short in the digital skills arena isn’t just a problem for individuals. There is also a danger that small businesses in particular will not be able to keep up with technological changes. For example, when it comes to managing information, businesses need to safely store digital information on both customers and suppliers and they need to be able to use analytics to understand online success.
When it comes to communicating in the digital age, businesses also need to be able to use social media platforms to engage with customers and promote their business and creating content for online is also an important part of modern business activity.
