Posted: 16th Jan, 2010 By: MarkJ
BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, has welcomed the Government's recently re-announced '
Home Access' (formerly '
Broadband for All') scheme. The initiative apparently resonates with the Institute's own
Savvy Citizens campaign, which encourages people to get the most out of computers and the Internet.
The Home Access project will give a grant of £500 to children from 270,000 low income families (earning less than £16,040 per year), allowing them to select an approved computer with a free 12-month broadband Internet access subscription (
original news). It’s still unclear what kind of pre-approved ISP services and computers will be made available.
Ian Ryder, Deputy Chief Executive at the Institute, says:
"As the Chartered Institute for IT, we welcome any attempt to help families on low incomes make the most of this tremendous opportunity to become active digital citizens. For example, being able to shop or pay your bills online or check what your child’s homework is for the week via your home computer is a real benefit being enjoyed by millions of people, but many are still missing out. Even just being able to research the lowest-cost source for everyday goods and services would be a huge benefit to those currently excluded from this technology.
Our recently launched Savvy Citizens programme is wholly aimed at helping all citizens benefit from our information society and ensuring families are equipped and able to get online is a necessary but difficult step at a national level; we applaud the Government’s efforts to do this through this scheme."
The Savvy Citizens website contains details on how to protect you and your child’s presence on the internet, to understanding how the NHS transfers your health records. The Home Access scheme is due to begin its rollout in March of next year, though some concerns remain over the affordability of doing it in the current climate.