New taskforce launched to tackle London’s digital divide

The mayor of London Sadiq Khan has established a digital exclusion taskforce to address the city’s digital divide including connectivity, devices, and skills. The taskforce, which is led by London’s Chief Digital Officer Theo Blackwell, includes councils, charities, and telecom operators. The first task for the taskforce will be to comprehensively map out device and connectivity gaps. It will further buttress the London Recovery Programme by helping ensure every Londoner has access to good connectivity, basic digital skills, and the device or support they need to be online by 2025. Within the taskforce, the charity London Grid for Learning (LGfL) will provide 100,000 laptops to schools across England in addition to the 100,000 provided in the first COVID-19 lockdown. ‘The pandemic and the restrictions to limit the spread of the virus will continue to have a profound impact on all our lives. But I’m determined to work with organizations across the capital to do everything possible to ensure children are able to gain a good education despite the challenges we all face,’ said Khan.