Manchester is reported as most digitally inclusive city, offering 11 Digital Inclusion Hubs per 100,000 population. 

Recognising the issue of digital poverty, the first ever National Databank was launched in 2021 by Good Things Foundation to tackle data poverty by providing free mobile data for people who cannot afford or don’t feel able to adopt a predominantly digital lifestyle.

 

MANCHESTER LEADS THE UK IN DIGITAL INCLUSION

This Uswitch mobiles analysis has looked at the number of National Databanks,  Digital Inclusion Hubs, and Digital skill workshops on offer around the UK, compared against the average employment rate, and GINI coefficient in each of the locations, to determine where digital inclusion and exclusion is most prevalent. 

With the Good Things Foundation aiming to help over 200,000 people by the end of 2023[2], Uswitch research reveals that the UK currently has a total of 2,712 databanks, digital inclusion hubs and digital skills workshops, with 361 of these being databanks. 

The most digitally inclusive locations:

Rank Location Poverty index (out of 100) Digital Inclusion Hub (per 100,000 people) Databanks (per 100,000 people)
1 Manchester 59.2 11.2 5.6
2 Coventry 43.1 10.7 2.6
3 York 38.5 8.9 0.5
4 Gloucester 16.2 8.3 1.5
5 Newcastle 66.7 6.7 2.3
6 Leeds 55.1 6.3 1.4
7 Bradford 59.3 6.0 1.8
8 Liverpool 65.7 4.9 1.2
9 Hull 69.0 4.9 1.1
10 Leicester 72.2 4.3 0.8
11 Cambridge 38.9 4.1 0.7
12 Sunderland 58.8 4.0 1.8
13 Luton 76.4 4.0 0.4
14 Blackburn 70.8 3.9 0.0
15 Middlesbrough 72.7 3.5 1.4
16 Derby 62.1 3.4 0.4
17 Sheffield 50.0 3.4 0.7
18 Plymouth 29.6 3.4 0.4
19 London 47.2 3.3 0.4
20 Birmingham 70.4 3.3 1.1


Combining a poverty index score of 59.2 and an average of 11.2 Digital Inclusion Hubs per and 5.6 databanks 100,000 people, Manchester takes the lead as the most digitally inclusive location in the UK. 

Whilst London had the most databanks overall, with 38, when taking into account the capital’s population of over 8.7 million, London only have 0.4 databanks per 100,000 people. 

Coventry sits just behind Manchester with an average of 10.7 Digital Inclusion Hubs per 100,000 people. The city has a higher employment rate and number of people accessing the internet in the past three months. However, the city has less than half of Manchester’s databanks per 100,000 (2.6), exemplifying room for improvement. 

Liverpool, Hull and Leicester all have just under five Digital Inclusion Hubs and on average one databank per 100,000. With a poverty index score at the upper third of the rankings, the cities are putting in resources to accommodate those in data poverty. However, more could be done to bring them to compete with the likes of Manchester and Coventry. 

 

Uswitch’s mobile expert, Rehan Ali comments “

Manchester has emerged as the most digitally inclusive location in the UK. The city has identified the demand for digitally inclusive services for its residents that cannot afford mobile data to access digital services or for those who need support with accessing them, due to lack of online skills. “

“Our data shows that while Manchester is considerably smaller than the country’s capital, London has considerably less digital inclusion hubs and databanks per 100,000 people. This shows the vast support and improvement needed for individuals and families around the country to carry out essential tasks that require an internet connection.

This research highlights the urgent need to address digital poverty and ensure that mobile data is readily available for everyone to access basic government, council and financial systems –  regardless of their social class, unemployment status and personal arrangements..” 

Find out more on the Greater Manchester Databank

Read more on Greater Manchester's digital inclusion agenda for change

If you are looking for a low cost data plan, visit Uswitch’s SIM only deals to see the best deals.

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Notes to editors:

Methodology 

The data has been split into the poverty index and a list of databanks by city. The index was calaulated using 5 metrics that were ranked to give cities with more poverty a higher score. The average poverty score was the compared against the number of databanks per capita in order to identify any correlation between the two datasets. 

Metrics