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Encouraging extra 10m Brits online is 'challenging but realistic'
Wednesday 14th July 2010, by Daniel King
"Challenging but realistic".
These are the words used by Graham Walker, head of policy at Race Online 2012, when describing its bid to encourage ten million Britons who have never used the internet to get connected over the next few years.
This is the equivalent of the entire population of the largest five cities in Britain.
Earlier this week, the government's digital champion Martha Lane Fox launched the campaign, which aims to get as many people of working age in the UK using the internet by 2012.
According to Ms Fox, this would mean that anyone retiring after that date would have the skills and knowledge to enjoy the benefits of being online.
Mr Walker said that 40 million Britons are already internet customers, while 30 million access the web every day.
He called on those already paying for broadband internet connections to help those who aren't see what going online could do for them.
"More and more services are moving online. Parents need to be online to support their children's learning and keep them safe online," he said.
"It is important for all working-age adults to be online as 90 per cent of all new jobs require basic internet skills and seven million vacancies were advertised online last year."
Recently released figures from the UK Online Measurement Company have revealed that the UK's internet audience jumped from 36.9 million to 38.8 million between May 2009 and May this year.
People aged over 50 years were responsible for more than half of the newcomers.
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