What is Get Online London?
Get Online London is London’s first Digital Inclusion service offering Londoners access to refurbished devices, free mobile connectivity and digital skills they may need to get online. Supported by the Mayor of London and the London Office of Technology and Innovation (LOTI), the service is delivered by Good Things Foundation (GTF). The service builds on Good Things Foundation’s existing infrastructure to enable delivery at scale via community partners and libraries, ensuring that support is available at the local level in every corner of London.
The three core elements of the service include:
- A new ‘Device Bank’ for London – With the aim of providing appropriate devices to Londoners who need them. Creating this pool of devices and equipment will heavily rely on donations from our private and public sector partner organisations. There are no costs involved for the organisations wishing to donate devices. This will also support the circular economy, reducing e-waste as well as having a positive social impact.
- A National Databank – Londoners will have access to Good Things Foundation’s National Databank, which will provide free mobile connectivity.
- Access to a free digital skills platform, Learn My Way – which organisations can use to help support people develop basic digital skills. It covers topics such as how to turn on a device and use a mouse through to online banking.
Growing the London Online Centres Network will enable the delivery of these three core elements. The London Online Centres Network is the London network of VCS and community organisations that will lead in distributing the devices and data to the people they support. We’ll expand and build on the existing network of online centres Good Things Foundation has developed to ensure every Londoner has access to the service offer.
We’ll support the London Online Centres Network to provide digital inclusion support in their communities by offering grants that aim to support members’ sustainability and capability to deliver. Sign up for the Network newsletter to find out when the next round of the Digital Inclusion Capability Grants will open.
How to join the London Online Centres Network
If you’re an organisation supporting residents with digital inclusion, you can get involved by joining the London Online Centres network.
The Good Things Foundation Online Centres Network is free to join and open to community organisations who are already supporting – or who want to support – digital inclusion in their community.
By joining the network you’ll get: access to devices for the people your organisation supports, access to data through the National Databank, as well as access to free training, workshops, meet-ups and resources. To join, register on Good Things Foundation’s Online Centres Network website. If you have any questions, please get in touch at hello@goodthingsfoundation.org.
How to donate devices to the Device Bank
If you’re a business looking to support by donating your disused devices and/or equipment we’d love to hear from you. We’ve built a Device Bank to make it as easy as possible for organisations to donate devices and equipment, whilst wiping, securing and tracking devices to industry standards.
We’ve made this process cost-neutral to organisations who donate to the Device Bank. Specifically, we are looking for digital devices such as laptops, tablets, and phones as well as AV equipment, disused servers, cables etc. If you would like to donate your equipment please fill in this form or contact us at partnerships@goodthingsfoundation.org.
You can find out more about donating devices in this short document.
To stay updated, please join the LOTI Digital Inclusion community on Basecamp. We will work in the open, so we will keep you updated every step of the way.
