London boroughs, through LOTI and the GLAs’ (Greater London Authority) Get Online London programme have made significant progress in addressing digital exclusion since the pandemic. As a result, Get Online London has supported over 300,000 Londoners and their families, with devices, SIM cards and training.

However, the emergence of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and other advanced technologies requires a fundamental shift in our approach—from basic digital access to comprehensive digital capability across both residents and the public sector workforce.

Beyond basic access – The Evolving Landscape of Digital Exclusion

In simple terms, digital exclusion has traditionally been understood as the lack of digital devices, SIM cards, digital literacy, and confidence or motivation to get online. And typically the response has been to improve access to these fundamental barriers.

The rapid deployment of AI, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, assistive technologies (ATs), and robotic process automation (RPA) across public services creates a new layer of complexity. This complexity arises from the way in which these technologies operate across a spectrum of user interactions:

• ATs and IoTs require more direct user engagement and understanding;
• Others such as AI, and RPA operate almost invisibly to the end user but significantly impact service delivery and decision-making.

In the real world, residents who are unaware of or unable to understand how these technologies can benefit them, may miss out on opportunities for better healthcare, more education opportunities, and other socio-economic possibilities that can significantly improve their lives.

Similarly, staff working across the public sector are increasingly expected to use AI tools themselves in an effort to improve productivity and reduce repetitive administration tasks. This – in theory – has the potential to allow professionals like social workers, occupational therapists and other similar front facing roles re-connect with their profession, focusing more on valuable contact time with people they support.

In this new world of fast paced technology, I’m sure you can see how access to a device, and connectivity may simply no longer suffice our emerging needs – especially if collectively as residents and public sector workers we are to thrive in this new environment.

This is why public services should take action

1. To meet the increased demand for social care and other services.

It’s no secret that Adult Social Care is one of five biggest areas of local government spend and with a forecasted £200m overspend in the 23/24 financial year, I’m sure you can see it easily represents one of the most significant pressure points in local authority budgets. In order to meet this increasing demand, boroughs are looking at alternatives that can help them deliver good outcomes for people. This is why the use of ATs and IoTs is gaining increasing interest and popularity in social care.

However, the intended benefits of these devices are partially dependent on the user’s ability to understand these benefits as well as knowledge on how to use them. The same could be said about other healthcare related digital platforms. In addition to the basic barriers (devices and connectivity) to getting online, the following also bear a significant impact:

Digital Literacy Gaps: It is well know now that residents in underserved communities struggle with increasingly complex digital interfaces – including health related ones, reducing engagement and limiting access to preventive care.

Health and Social Care Literacy Barriers: Digital platforms often use service jargon and language that assumes a baseline health and service knowledge which research has shown is not universally present in all communities. Boroughs such as Kingston, Islington and many others are undertaking work to improve the council’s social care digital interfaces.

2.  To ensure the workforce has the skills of the future.

As mentioned earlier, boroughs face a dual challenge: ensuring both resident capability and internal workforce readiness. Public sector staff across boroughs and health organisations are simultaneously expected to adopt AI tools for their own productivity while making increasingly complex technology recommendations to residents.

The latter is increasingly the case for social workers where they often routinely recommend or prescribe sensors, wearables, and IoT devices to support independent living and condition management. Other examples include occupational therapists assess and configure assistive technologies that integrate with smart home systems. Housing officers similarly are looking to these new technologies to support vulnerable tenants or monitor their stock to prevent damp and mould.

As you can imagine, the stakes are particularly high because these recommendations directly impact residents’ safety, independence, and quality of life.

Any knowledge gap has the potential to create a cascade effect: well-intentioned professional recommendations may inadvertently increase digital exclusion among the very populations these services aim to support. Without adequate staff capability, the promise of technology-enabled independence becomes a barrier to accessing essential support.

3. To bring everyone on the journey.

At the annual London digital inclusion conference in May 2025, LOTI brought together colleagues from across the public sector to discuss the impact of AI on our communities. This generated lots of good discussions about:

Intersectional Inequality: Digital exclusion compounds existing disadvantages, creating multiplicative effects on health outcomes for already marginalised groups.

Community Engagement: The need for co-design approaches that involve residents in shaping how technology is used for services ensuring that services are digitally inclusive.

Skills Progression: Moving beyond one-off training to create pathways that support continuous learning and adaptation as technology evolves.

None of the above are particularly surprising or novel ideas, yet the fact they keep coming up in these forums, means that we should be doing more to bring our residents and workforce on this new journey.

4. To address ethical considerations and build trust.

The integration of AI and other emerging technologies into public services raises fundamental questions about fairness, transparency, and accountability that cannot be ignored. Without proper consideration of these ethical dimensions, we risk creating systems that perpetuate or amplify existing inequalities.

LOTI is already working in this space and you can view the latest in this fast evolving work via our website. However, here are some key considerations:

Algorithmic Bias: This has been a concern for quite a while since AI systems have functionality that makes them useful in social care assessments, housing allocations, or employment support – all being systems that make decisions that affect real people’s lives and access to what could be vital services for them.

Data Privacy and Consent: The proliferation of IoT devices and health monitoring technologies creates vast amounts of personal data. Residents need to understand what data is being collected, how it’s used, and have meaningful control over their information. This requires clear, accessible communication about data practices.

Transparency and Accountability: When AI systems influence decisions about someone’s care package or housing application, residents have a right to understand how these decisions are made.

Digital Consent and Autonomy: True digital inclusion means people have genuine choice about how they engage with technology-enabled services. This includes the right to access services through non-digital channels and the ability to opt out of certain technologies without penalty or adverse effect on their outcomes.

5. To future-proof our communities.

The pace of technological change shows no signs of slowing. Today’s cutting-edge AI tools will likely seem just basic in just a few years. This new reality means that we need build capacity that can adapt to meet changing needs rather than just training people on specific technologies.

Lifelong Learning: We need to move beyond traditional training models to create ongoing support systems that help both residents and staff adapt to new technologies as they emerge.

Innovation with Inclusion: As boroughs experiment with new technologies, digital inclusion considerations must be built in from the design phase, not added as an afterthought.

In conclusion, the digital gap will likely exist for as long as the internet and technology exists and is evolving faster than our responses to it. While London has made impressive progress in addressing basic digital exclusion, the emergence of AI and advanced technologies demands a more sophisticated approach.

Success will require us to think beyond access to devices and connectivity, towards building genuine digital capability across our communities. This means addressing not just the technical barriers, but the ethical, social, and economic dimensions of technology adoption.