Social Innovation: Changing Clocks Drives the Give An Hour Campaign in the UK

Here in the UK on 30 October, our clocks go back an hour. It marks winter time and gives us all that extra hour. The UK's Digital Champion Martha Lane Fox is launching a social innovation campaign to encourage people to use the hour when the clocks go back to help a friend or relative to get online. Ms Lane Fox believes 8.7 million adults in the UK have never used the internet and that 6 million of these people are over the age of 65, and about 4 million come from socially disadvantaged backgrounds.

The Give an Hour campaign is encouraging the 30 million people in the UK who use the internet daily to help and support others. It will be supported by BBC TV and radio stars who are all behind this drive. Ms Lane Fox will be leading by example, as she will be teaching her own father to use the web better. This social innovation initiative is part of Race Online 2012 and along with its various UK partners such as the Scouts, Jobcentre Plus, Post Offices and Mecca Bingo clubs it wants to encourage thousands of local digital champions via its website to get involved.

Today, nine out of ten new jobs require online applications, while web users can command salaries on average 10 percent higher than non-users. The UK Government is very keen to improve these statistics and social innovation, as more and more government public information is going online. So, people will need to know how to access the web to do everything from influencing decisions that affect their local area to collecting benefits. The government and Ms Lane Fox believes that with Britain online properly, it would save the country £22 billion as a result.

Martha Lane Fox is the founder of the successful travel website lastminute.com and was once again confirmed the UK's Digital Champion by the new coalition government last year. Her mission is to bridge the digital divide as there are compelling economic reasons why all Britons need to be online and wired.

Research from Ofcom and the BBC showed that many people still doubt the social innovation benefits of being online, and cites "a lack of awareness of the benefits of being on the web and initial lack of confidence in taking their first steps online". The research also shows that families and friends play a key role for nearly all recent adopters of the web. Older people are far more likely to use the Internet if they are taught by friends and family. While 58 percent of older people (5.7 million) aged 65+ have never used the web. However, interestingly, 25 million people in the UK make social connections through Facebook.

Photo Credit: www.go-on.co.uk