Lloyds Banking To Lead Part Of Government’s Digital Literacy Efforts

Lloyds Banking Group has taken charge of a government digital literacy campaign aimed at charities and small-to-medium businesses (SMBs).

As part of the Digital Inclusion Delivery Board, the organisation, which owns Lloyds Bank and Halifax, will be working to help reduce the number of people without basic digital skills by a quarter over the next two years.

“We want to make Britain the most digitally able nation in the world to help boost the economy and strengthen communities. A key part of this is enabling more small businesses and charities to get online which is why his piece of work, chaired by Lloyds Banking Group, will be crucial in identifying the gaps and targeting our resources,” said Eleri Pengelly, joint chair of the Digital Inclusion Delivery Board.

The dark horse

According to the Lloyds Bank Business Digital Index, as many as 1.7 million organisations in the UK have a ‘very low’ level of digital capability and over a third of all SMEs and charities don’t have the basic online skills.

The same research suggests that only half of SMEs and charities have a website at all and for those that do, functionality is very basic, with only one in five allowing electronic payments or donations. Despite widely publicised benefits of having a website, almost a third of small organisations said the Internet wasn’t relevant to their business or charity

The Digital Inclusion Delivery Board was created following the launch of the Government’s UK Digital Inclusion Charter in April 2014. Operating in partnership with the government, GO ON UK and other organisations, it has been tasked with improving the digital presence of charities and smaller businesses.

Lloyds, the only bank to sit on the Digital Inclusion Delivery Board, will lead the group, which aims to establish where the problem areas are, explore the ways successful organisations use digital tools, and identify solutions by building on work and support carried out through 39 Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) and mentoring programmes across the country.

“We know that a big barrier is the perceived benefits of digital and that is one area the group will be focusing on. We can’t emphasis enough the benefits that the internet can bring for SMEs and charities – such as saving time, increasing revenue or reaching wider audiences. That’s why we are co-ordinating this work so that businesses and charities can reap the rewards from better digital skills,” said Miguel-Ángel Rodríguez-Sola, group director for Digital, Marketing and Customer Development at Lloyds Banking Group.

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