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Digital Communities Final Report
LESSONS FOR FUTURE POLICY
- The overall rationale for intervention needs to be as clear as possible to ensure that the intervention is targeted appropriately;
- Community involvement is critical and this should start at the policy design stage to ensure that the objectives of community participants are taken into account;
- Programmes aimed directly at community participants need to be tailored to the needs of participants and to specific benefits the technology can provide;
- A detailed policy appraisal is crucial to ensure:
- That target groups are defined and possible deadweight is recognised at the outset;
- The objectives of the intervention are clearly stated;
- That the intervention is the most effective and efficient way of achieving these objectives;
- That the outcome objectives are at the centre of policy design;
- That incentives are aligned with overall objectives;
- That a baseline is established;
- That implementation processes are designed to take account of the current baseline position;
- With the exception of a few areas where there are still hardware /infrastructure limitations, intervention to achieve digital inclusion is likely to be most effective (and necessary) if the focus is on 'intangibles' (such as training and education);
- In case interventions are focused on issues such as training and development, it will be worth considering the most effective method of delivery, which might include using existing providers such as schools and colleges; and
- Particular attention should be paid to the significant group of people who have in the past been hard to reach with traditional policy interventions.
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