In a bid to reduce digital exclusion the Government Digital Service (GDS) is launching a £35m tender for a digital training and support framework.
The tender is supported by the Department for Innovation, Business and Skills and aims to find suppliers which can “provide digital training and support services to reduce the number of digitally excluded people in the UK by removing the barriers presented by lack of access, digital skills, vulnerability or motivation”.
The tender stated that currently in the UK there are 3.5 million people who lack basic digital skills, with many of those unable to use digital government services independently.
The two year framework will help to drive forward the GDS’s assisted digital programme, which works with several government departments to ensure that the “18% of UK adults who are offline or who have low digital skills” get the support they need to use digital services.
Last year the government launched a digital inclusion strategy which aims to reduce the number of UK people who are not online by 25%.