Digital Inclusion: Progress, Purpose, Action

On Tuesday, 3 June 2025 the Digital Poverty Alliance (DPA) will host a day of discussion and reflection at the Square Tower in Portsmouth to introduce the next phase of its National Delivery Plan. It will bring together those shaping national policy, delivering frontline services, and living with the consequences of digital exclusion. It will be a space for serious conversation and shared purpose – focused on the progress already made, the work still required, and the urgency of getting it right.

In 2025, no one in the UK should be held back because they lack access to a device, a reliable internet connection, or the digital skills needed to take part in everyday life.

This is more than a publication launch. It is a moment to take stock of how far we have come since the Plan’s inception in 2023, and to renew a collective commitment to ending digital poverty across the UK. The National Delivery Plan remains a living blueprint – evolving in response to the shifting landscape of technology, policy, and everyday life. It is informed by those with lived experience, and by those working tirelessly to ensure digital inclusion becomes the norm rather than the exception.

In the last six months, the momentum has grown stronger. DPA’s sustained advocacy has helped secure a national commitment to a strategy on digital inclusion. DPA’s delivery programmes, including Tech4Youth and Tech4YoungCarers, have scaled up, extending support to young people and carers previously left on the wrong side of the digital divide. Meanwhile, partnerships have deepened and diversified, reflected in the creation of the DPA Community Circle – a national coalition of grassroots organisations, charities, and local leaders united by purpose and practice.

This work is not abstract. It is about whether a parent can access healthcare advice online. Whether a young carer can submit homework. Whether a jobseeker can apply for work. Whether an older person can reconnect with a distant friend. Digital access shapes the texture of daily life, and the lack of it continues to entrench inequality.

The day will bring together a wide range of voices and perspectives: senior officials, sector leaders, frontline innovators, and those whose voices too often go unheard. Alongside focused briefings and time for open discussion, the programme will feature panel conversations on a range of key issues shaping the future of digital inclusion. The programme is designed to prompt honest dialogue, share evidence and insight, and foster deeper alignment across sectors.

Members are encourage to take part – whether in person or by exploring the new National Delivery Plan, which will be published on the DPA’s website on the day of the event. It is an opportunity to recognise what has already been achieved, to challenge what remains unfinished, and to focus on the practical steps that lie ahead.

Ending digital poverty is not a single task or a single moment – it is a collective endeavour that calls for sustained effort, sharper collaboration, and the resolve to ensure no one is left behind.