Digital inclusion and ethics

Digital Participation Charter

We launched the Digital Participation Charter as a template to develop a digital society in Scotland and encouraged organisations to commit to five key pledges:

  1. Skill Up: we ensure that our staff and volunteers have the opportunity to develop essential digital skills.
  2. Support Staff: we support our staff and volunteers to help others learn essential digital skills and embrace digital tools.
  3. Support Scotland: we support our nation by contributing resources and practical support for Scotland in whatever ways we can.
  4. The Essentials: we support a common language based on digital participation and essential digital skills to make our thinking and actions as clear as possible.
  5. Come Together: we channel our efforts through the Digital Participation programme so that our activities are co-ordinated and build on each other.

As of November 2022, 748 public, private and third sector organisations have signed up to the charter and promised to implement five pledges.

Digital Participation Charter fund

We started the Digital Participation Charter Fund in 2014 which invested in community digital inclusion projects across Scotland. The fund closed in April 2021.

Read more about the fund on the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations website, as well as the projects it has funded.

Connecting Scotland

In 2020, we launched a digital programme called Connecting Scotland with an emergency fund of £48 million pounds to reach 60,000 of the most vulnerable individuals and communities across Scotland. During the various phases of the programme, we reached out to disabled, shielding, older aged cohorts, displaced people, young care leavers and families on low income. The programme provided digital devices, connectivity and skills/support.

The programme is currently paused.

Ethical Digital Nation report

An academic expert group considered key issues on digital ethics and made recommendations in their detailed report, 'Building Trust in the Digital Era: Achieving Scotland’s Aspirations as an Ethical Digital Nation'.

Back to top