Voluntary workers to help people get online

It has been announced that one hundred thousand volunteers are being deployed in order to offer support and encouragement to people that have never been online.

For the many people that use their internet and broadband service on a regular basis it can be hard to imagine what life must be like for those that have never experienced the internet or been online themselves. However, there is a surprising number of people that have never been online, and this is something that officials want to address.

In a recent announcement Martha Lane Fox, the UK’s digital champion, said that a national network of one hundred thousand volunteers had been deployed to provide encouragement and support to those that had never been online. The measure forms part of the Race Online 2012 challenge, and is aimed at helping the nine million or so people that have never been online to access broadband.

The Prime Minister, David Cameron, commented on the new measure, stating: “I am delighted to welcome the announcement of 100,000 new local digital champion volunteers … and make a massive plea to those of you who aren’t yet involved, to sign up now. We really can become the first nation in the world to get everyone online and ensure that something the vast majority of us take for granted can be enjoyed by all of us.”

As part of the Race Online 2012 challenge the aim is to get as many people as possible online by the time the up and coming 2012 Olympic Games come around. These begin towards the end of July next year.