(South Scotland)
(Lab):
...In moving Labour’s amendment, I want to highlight the fact that
such benefits are sadly not often felt equally. It is too easy to
presume that everyone has the basic skills to navigate their way
around the digital world or that people have access to the
technology, even if they have the skills. Too many people in
Scotland are digitally excluded. There are many reasons for that.
Scotland’s beautiful but fragmented landscape provides challenges
to making the necessary technology available for all, and
shortcomings in the Government’s connectivity policy have so far
failed to overcome those barriers. The much-touted digital
superfast Scotland broadband programme helped to facilitate the
roll-out of digital broadband, but it also entrenched some of
Scotland’s Digital divide...
...People who live in rural areas are one of the groups that
are digitally excluded. Although digital broadband coverage is at
more than 97 per cent nationally, in some of our rural
areas—Orkney, for example—coverage is down to 82 per cent and
access to superfast broadband is at just 65 per cent. That is far
from unique. In the Western Isles and Ross, Skye and Lochaber,
almost 30 per cent of people do not have access to superfast speeds
and, across the board, rural areas have much poorer access to
digital and superfast broadband. The wider challenges that those
communities face—challenges that relate to the economy and
accessing services—are exacerbated by that Digital divide...
...It is clear that Scotland faces
a Digital divide. Rural communities, those on the
lowest incomes, people with physical or mental health conditions,
and older people are being excluded. That exclusion mirrors wider
social and economic inequalities, but it also exacerbates those
inequalities. A comprehensive strategy is therefore needed. That is
why I am happy to move Labour’s amendment, which calls for that.
I move amendment S5M-14509.2, to
insert at end:
“; notes that rural communities, those on the
lowest income, people with physical or mental health conditions
and older people are particularly affected by digital exclusion;
recognises that digital exclusion exacerbates wider social and
economic inequalities; believes that the Scottish Government has
failed to adequately tackle digital exclusion, and calls for a
more comprehensive approach by the Scottish Government to end
Scotland’s Digital divide.”..
(Banffshire and Buchan
Coast) (SNP):
...The member said that people in the industry tell us
that R100 cannot be done. I recently met BT—I understand that
it is one of the bidders, but not the only one—and was given
absolute assurances that R100 can be achieved, although price
is a different issue. Who says that we cannot reach 100 per
cent?
(Galloway and West Dumfries)
(Con):
BT.
(Highlands and Islands)
(Lab):
Indeed—BT. Many people in the
industry say that the technology is not available to reach 100
per cent of the population. However, there are things that the
Scottish Government could do now to make a difference. It could
map fibre—especially fibre that was paid for by the public
purse...
(Uddingston and Bellshill)
(SNP):
...Closing the Digital divide in Scotland will
positively impact on social cohesion and will improve social and
economic inclusion. That is a fact. It is a sad fact that digital
inequalities are more likely to be experienced by people who are
already disadvantaged according to other measures. Indeed, in
Scotland, the Digital divide remains in a number of
dimensions, including age and socioeconomic deprivation. For
example, 26 per cent of adults—more than one in four—who live in
the 20 per cent most deprived areas in Scotland reported not
using the internet, compared with 16 per cent in the rest of the
country. It is also concerning that 70 per cent of people aged 75
and over do not use the internet.
Closing the Digital divide is critically important to
the future and to creating a fairer Scotland. I am proud to
support the Government, which is doing that.
(Galloway and West Dumfries)
(Con):
...Including everyone in the digital revolution is one of the
biggest challenges that society faces. If we do not get it right,
we run the risk of creating a further Digital
divide, not just in relation to connectivity but
between the people who can benefit from our fast-approaching
digital society and those who cannot do so. The problem is
apparent in rural areas—my colleague ’s amendment refers to
that...
To read the whole debate, CLICK
HERE
