It isn’t a single intervention or a box to be ticked. It’s a set of conditions that need to Digital inclusion is often talked about as if it’s a single problem with a simple fix. It isn’t. It’s a set of conditions that need to come together for people to meaningfully take part in the digital world. One practical way to understand this is through the five pillars of digital inclusion:

1. Motivation and trust: wanting to be online and feeling confident that digital spaces are safe and worthwhile
2. Access to a suitable device: such as a smartphone, tablet, or computer that actually meets someone’s needs
3. Connectivity: affordable data on a phone or reliable broadband at home
4. Skills and confidence: the ability to do the things that matter to you, not just “use technology” in the abstract
5. Usable and accessible services: digital products and services that are designed for real people, not ideal users

Straightforward? Not quite. And that’s the point. If digital inclusion depends on all five of these being in place, then supporting it isn’t about fixing one problem (like simply handing someone a smartphone) it’s about how organisations recognise and respond to the whole picture.

Through SUMIT, community-based organisations will build their own capability to support digital inclusion as part of everyday service delivery. SUMIT partners, SCVO, brings over a decade of experience supporting the community and voluntary sector in Scotland, helping organisations move beyond one-off fixes and embed digital inclusion into how services are designed and delivered.

Over the past few months SCVO, in partnership with SUMIT researchers in QCAP, we’ve spent time with organisations across the SUMIT demonstrator sites, gaining a clear picture of how services are currently delivered and where digital capability sits today. These conversations have explored not only how digital could be embedded in service delivery, but also the risks, constraints, and trade-offs that need to be taken seriously.

From this work, a set of clear themes has emerged. These themes represent the shared challenges and considerations facing organisations at the very start of their digital inclusion journey:

1. It’s a journey, not a jump: Most organisations meet us with a mix of fear and quiet shame about not being “digital enough.” The reality is that community and voluntary organisations are focused on keeping services running, supporting people, and responding to demand, they rarely have the time or headspace for formal organisational development. Every digital inclusion journey starts somewhere. The only mistake is pretending everyone should already be further along.

2. Fear is part of the work: Almost every site visit starts the same way: someone admits they’re apprehensive about digital and lacking confidence in their own digital abilities. What’s interesting is how often that fear shifts, through conversation, into curiosity and even excitement. Digital can feel risky, overwhelming, or unclear, and it means different things to different roles. Embedding digital inclusion in services only works when the whole workforce is brought along, not just the “digital” people.

3. You’re further along than you think: A consistent surprise is how much digital is already woven into service delivery, just not always recognised or formalised. Practitioners shared plenty of examples of apps, platforms, and tools being used in specific contexts or by individual teams. The opportunity isn’t to start from scratch, but to build on what’s already working, amplifying existing practice and using it to create confidence and momentum.

Over the coming months we’ll be supporting the demonstrator sites on their journey to embed digital inclusion into service delivery.

 

Media

Aaron Slater SCVO aaron.slater@scvo.scot

Dr Donna Tedstone SUMIT Programme Manager d.tedstone@qub.ac.uk