Meaningful digital inclusion goes beyond simply providing internet access or digital devices.
It focuses on ensuring that individuals and communities have the skills and confidence to use digital tools effectively and critically.
This means not just getting connected, but also having the ability to navigate the online world safely, understand how to find and assess information, and use digital platforms in ways that genuinely improve their lives.
What does meaningful digital inclusion mean at the INCLUDE+?
For example, providing internet access might be a starting point, but the real goal is to empower participants to critically engage with the digital world. This could include training on how to spot fake news, protecting their privacy online, or using digital tools to find employment or support community initiatives. Meaningful inclusion means ensuring these digital skills are relevant and beneficial, enabling people to fully participate in society.
Meaningful digital inclusion: examples of critical questions for you to consider for your IN+ Project.
| Meaningful digital inclusion across IN+ Projects | Question |
| Your community’s/project’s understanding of meaningful digital inclusion | How does your community or project define meaningful digital inclusion, and what steps are being taken to ensure that it goes beyond mere connectivity to include critical digital skills and active, equitable participation? |
| Skills | How do we address not just basic digital skills but also critical digital literacy, like understanding data privacy, online safety, and information verification? |
| Accessibility | How can we make our digital inclusion efforts accessible to people with disabilities, language barriers, or other specific needs? |
| Relevance | How can we ensure that the digital tools and content we provide are culturally and linguistically relevant to the communities we serve? |
Examples of meaningful digital inclusion from our funded projects
Some of our projects have built-in reparative work with participants, to ensure they have a scaffolded approach to the digital resources they will use within the project so they might have a multi-tiered start date, or use different digital resources within different groups, or use what groups already have confidence with. We often think we need to embrace new technologies but it is more important that people feel confident with what they are asked to do.
Youth Link Scotland started by exploring with young people through participatory workshops what social issues were important to them, they then built a project and decided on the digital tools around that. The idea for the digital games they are making came from these workshops and this means that everyone is invested in the project and the digital element underpins the bigger focus on social justice.
This is different from, for example, providing digital skills or teaching people to use new technologies because unless the people learning the skills are onboard in terms of wanting to learn them and/or having a use for them, the digital skill has no currency beyond the project.
In one of our IN+ART, projects digital equity was approached by collaborating with the Gure Golé choir and DJ Aldessa to amplify Romani voices and address barriers to digital access and representation. For the participants, meaningful digital inclusion meant having the opportunities and resources for Romani artists to authentically share their music and cultural expressions without facing discrimination or appropriation. This concept resonated deeply and led to broader discussions about systemic barriers and the need for more inclusive digital platforms.
You can learn more about the project here.