Fw: Support for amplifying #EndDigitalPovertyDay on 12 September 2024
Immo Hüneke
Dear BCS SG and Branch Chairs
Please could we ask you to forward this information to your members on behalf of Chair of Digital Divide SG
Support for amplifying #EndDigitalPovertyDay on 12 September 2024
I am the chair of the BCS Digital Divide Specialist Group established in 2021 which aligns with one of BCS’s strategic priorities of closing the digital divide. I have been a BCS member since I was a student and it was the BCS which enabled me to come to the UK to get my higher education. During Covid it opened my eyes to the fact that I was oblivious to the many others who are not able to participate digitally, and that each of our BCS member has this superpower to do something to help people outside work such as our local communities and family members. The SG’s purpose is to “Leave no one digitally behind”.
Last year the BCS and Digital Poverty Alliance signed an MOU to jointly tackle closing the digital divide.
The main output from our strategy day was how we can socialise to mobilise everyone to be a “BCS member in the community”.
We have been doing the socialising via monthly webinars which cover a range of topics demonstrating how technology can help: homelessness, autism, dementia, visually-impaired and also how local communities and regions are doing their bit: Leeds, Staffordshire,
Scotland etc. See list of past events.
I would like to make you aware of the #EndDigitalPovertyDay which is on 12 September. This was launched by the DPA last year – see blog #JoiningTheDots to End Digital Poverty. As part of socialising what we need to know and do to close the digital divide, is to get your support to share this with your group and branch members and help amplify #EndDigitalPovertyDay on 12 September.
The SG is doing the following:
End Digital Poverty Day Gala Dinner on 12 September 2024 (https://www.tickettailor.com/events/digitalpovertyalliance/1280081) – BCS will be attending this supported by Rashik Parmar and members of the SG committee. Please come along and join us.
Digital divide: The Importance of Digital Literacy to address Homelessness (Digital divide: The Importance of Digital Literacy to address Homelessness Registration, Wed 11 Sep 2024 at 17:00 | Eventbrite) – this webinar is a joint event by BCS and Worshipful Company of Information Technologies (WCIT). We want to be #joiningthedots with as many tech communities. The chair of the Digital Inclusion panel is a committee member of the SG, and vice versa, I am also a member of this panel.
BCS Members in the Community to close the digital divide – we will be publishing a number of stories of 250 words of BCS members who are doing something on the SG website as well as in the BCS ITNow magazine for the Winter edition. If you have members who are happy to share their stories so that we can feature them, let me know asap.
Finally, join the SG’s LinkedIn page(LinkedIn Login, Sign in | LinkedIn) so that everyone can be kept informed, and like, share, comment on the posts to help socialise this. See this LinkedIn post about the webinar.
I look forward to your support. Please connect with me via chair.dig...@bcs.org.uk or directly via freddi...@outlook.com
Freddie Quek FBCS
Chair: BCS Digital Divide Specialist Group
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