Data Catalogue Information Packs

Definition: How do we define Digital Inclusion?

Digital inclusion can be defined as “ensuring that everyone has the access, skills, support and confidence to participate in and benefit from our modern digital society, whatever their circumstances” (Gov UK, 2025). The UK Government are currently focussing on digital inclusion, exploring four main priorities:

• Opening up opportunities through skills,
• Tackling data and device poverty,
• Breaking down barriers to digital services, and
• Building confidence and supporting local delivery.

Key contact within Coventry City Council

If you are wanting to know more information about homelessness, have any specific questions about the accessible data, or are keen to research digital inclusion, please contact: #Cov Connects Team: coventryconnectdigital@coventry.gov.uk 

Why is digital inclusion a wider determinant of health?

Digital inclusion is considered a wider determinant of health (a "super social determinant of health") because it significantly influences the broad range of social and economic factors that shape an individual's health outcomes and life chances. Digital access, skills, and confidence are now essential for navigating modern life, impacting the five domains of wider health determinants:

1. Economic stability and employment: Most jobs now require digital skills. Digital inclusion improves job prospects, earning potential, and the ability to apply for jobs and benefits online. Without it, individuals are more likely to face economic hardship, which is a major driver of poor health outcomes.
2. Education and lifelong learning: Online access is critical for education at all levels. Digital exclusion can lead to an achievement gap for children and adults, limiting future opportunities and perpetuating cycles of poor health associated with lower educational attainment.
3. Social participation and community life: Internet access is essential for social connection, communication with loved ones, and participating in community activities and support groups. Digital exclusion can exacerbate social isolation and loneliness, which have significant negative impacts on mental and physical health.
4. Housing and built environment: Access to digital tools is often necessary for managing housing, reporting repairs, and applying for social housing. It is also used to access information about local resources and amenities.
5. Access to health and healthcare services: Digital platforms are increasingly the primary way to access healthcare, including booking appointments, ordering prescriptions, accessing medical records, and engaging in remote monitoring or telehealth consultations. Digital exclusion directly creates barriers to receiving timely and appropriate care, potentially leading to delayed diagnoses and worse health outcomes.

Beyond these indirect effects, digital inclusion also has a direct impact on health including:

• Health information and self-management: The internet provides a wealth of health information, enabling individuals with sufficient digital and health literacy to better manage chronic conditions and engage in preventative health measures.
• Mental wellbeing: the ability to stay connected and engaged online can improve mental health and a sense of belonging, while digital exclusion can lead to feelings of disempowerment, frustration, and stigma.

By influence so many aspects of life that affect health, digital inclusion is now recognised as a fundamental determinant of health, and a crucial factor in addressing health inequalities.

Key literature signposting

Good Things Foundation (2024). Digital inclusion and health – summary of key statistics.

Good Things Foundation (2025). From analogue to digital: Tackling inequality and digital exclusion in the future NHS.

Middle & Welch (2022). Experiences of digital exclusion and the impact on health in people living with severe mental illness.

NHS England (2023). Inclusive digital healthcare: A framework for NHS action on digital inclusion.

López et al (2023). Digital literacy as a new determinant of health: A scoping review.

Kessel et al (2022). Digital health literacy as a super determinant of health: More than simply the sum of its parts.

Sieck et al (2021). Digital inclusion as a social determinant of health.

Fee et al (2023). Strategies and solutions to address digital determinants of health (DDOH) across underinvested communities.

Publicly accessible data on Digital Inclusion

1. LG Inform - https://lginform.local.gov.uk/

LG Inform (Local Government Inform), is an accessible platform which is funded by the UK government. The LG Inform platform was introduced as a practical solution to ensure that local governments and organisations could access data which will help influence decision making and policy, with the addition of being a free platform which members of the public can also use.

LG Inform provides an in-depth themed report surrounding digital inclusion for Coventry. This report includes:

• Key statistics
• Graphs
• Comparisons of topics to other Local Authority areas
• Mapping of data.

All maps and graphs provided within the report are interactive, allowing for live comparisons of digital inclusion between Coventry and other areas.

The themed report is divided into chapters including:

1. Availability
2. Digital usage
3. Tech skills and qualifications
4. Local context and digital engagement

As well as having themed reports available, LG Inform also has datasets available for digital inclusion, using the search function.  Please note: access for the datasets requires individuals to register for a free account.

For digital inclusion, there are 409 reports and/or datasets for individuals to access, which can be presented in a report, or access to the raw data is also accessible for individuals. This level of reporting for digital inclusion means that there is a wide range of data available to use for background information, reports, and building the need (rationale) for future research and/or funding applications.

2. Acorn - https://acorn.caci.co.uk

Acorn provides a detailed understanding of the various types of people who make up a city’s customer base and catchment areas. Acorn analyses data from hundreds of different sources, and segments UK postcodes by common characteristics. Acorn can be accessed through a free trial (only for a limited time). Coventry City Council has a licence for Acorn, meaning that colleagues can access this platform simply by registering for an account.

Digital inclusion is explored in ACORN in three main ways:

1. Digital
2. Devices
3. Internet

When exploring digital inclusion, data can be explored in many ways including:

• Category segments
• Group segments
• Type segments (as shown in the image below).

When searching specific data, individuals have the option to choose by generic postcode such as CV (for Coventry) or can break data down further by choosing specific postcodes such as CV1 which will be displayed on the map on the righthand side of data.

3. Coventry City Council - https://coventry-city-council.github.io/connected-nations/

Within this platform, Coventry City council provide local digital exclusion insights for Coventry specifically. This data can be explored at both a city-wide and local level, and crossmatches multiple data sources which individuals can explore and filter.

When exploring each data set, data is presented in a concise manner, using graphs, tables, and interactive mapping for individuals to explore.

Statistics can be presented by ward or LSOA if individuals require in-depth data on a specific location. This allows for identification of digital exclusion, internet access, broadband, and internet user statistics for each area and direct comparison – helping to identify areas where work is needed to support residents, as well as being useful for backgrounds to reports or rationales for research.