Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund winning schemes announced
HM Government announced today the schemes that will receive funding as part of the Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund. The government’s website also includes a full list of the schemes.
The Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund (DIIF) is a pot of £11.7 million that the government has created to promote new digital inclusion schemes as part of the effort to close the digital divide, a divide that continues to see 8 million adults in the UK lack basic digital skills and 1.6 million live completely offline. The DIIF was announced in the Digital Inclusion Action Plan in February 2025, and portions of the fund have been allocated to the devolved governments in Scotland, who will receive £764,020, Wales, which receives £400,368, and Northern Ireland, which has £267,249.
Being digitally excluded does not just mean people are unable to get online, but they are also excluded from essential public services that are increasingly online, including the NHS App. They are also excluded from online shopping, price comparison sites and more. On average, people without internet access pay 25% more on average for the same goods and services than consumers who are online.
The DIIF has focused on around eighty schemes designed to provide tangible support. Some of these include helping participants with a specific task or purpose to focus any inclusion support and show the potential of delivery. These include a project run by Age UK to help up to 7000 older people to learn how to use the NHS app to manage health matters, helping to improve their physical and digital health at the same time. This also includes Sheffield United’s Community Foundation, which will trial using e-sports video gaming to help 400 young people build digital skills and confidence, and raise awareness on being safe online.
Other schemes focus on innovation in the delivery of digital inclusion. The University of Bristol’s Future IDEAS project will allow digitally excluded members of the community and digital design experts to co-create a chat bot that will understand the needs and capabilities of the people it is built to support. Alongside this, ‘AI.Can’ is a peer-led pilot designed to find ‘what works’ when building skills to use existing AI tools that make life easier for people with learning disabilities and autism.
techUK partners FutureDotNow also received £156,945 for an Essential Digital Skills and AI Employability Pilot in the South West of England, which aims to support unemployed people with essential digital and AI skills to help them into work, as well as developing a scalable toolkit to improve digital inclusion and job readiness.
All of the projects will be delivered by community organisations across the UK, who will report back on findings and progress to shape future inclusion projects.
When the DIIF was first announced in February 2025, we were concerned by the lack of figure for the final amount. We are therefore delighted to see that the government has followed through on this spending. techUK and our members are deeply committed to eliminating the digital divide for good and ensuring everybody in the UK has the capability and freedom to use the internet with confidence whenever they wish.
We are keen to see how the schemes backed by this funding unfold, especially where they present new ways to promote digital inclusion. We also look forward to seeing the most effective projects given full financial backing from the government alongside the government’s current efforts to tackle the digital divide.
techUK members interested in the Digital Inclusion can join our Digital Inclusion Working Group to receive regular updates and get involved with our work.
Nimmi Patel
Associate Director for Policy, techUK
Jake Wall
Policy Manager, Skills and Future of Work, techUK
Archie Breare
Policy Manager - Skills & Digital Economy, techUK
Nimmi Patel
Associate Director for Policy, techUK
Nimmi Patel is the Associate Director of Policy at techUK. She works on all things skills, education, and future of work policy, focusing on upskilling and retraining. Nimmi is also an Advisory Board member of the Digital Futures at Work Research Centre (digit). The Centre’s research aims to increase understanding of how digital technologies are changing work and the implications for employers, workers, job seekers, and governments.
Prior to joining the techUK team, she worked for the UK Labour Party and New Zealand Labour Party, and holds an MA in Strategic Communications at King’s College London and BA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of Manchester. She also took part in the 2024-25 University of Bath Institute for Policy Research Policy Fellowship Programme and is the Education and Skills Policy Co-lead for Labour in Communications.
Jake has been the Policy Manager for Skills and Future of Work since May 2022, supporting techUK's work to empower the UK to skill, attract and retain the brightest global talent, and prepare for the digital transformations of the future workplace.
Previously, Jake was the Programme Assistant for Policy. He joined techUK in March 2019 and has also worked across the EU Exit, International Trade, and Cloud, Data Analytics and AI programmes.
He also holds an MA in International Relations from the University of Sussex, as well as a BA(Hons) in International Politics from Aberystwyth University. During his time at Aberystwyth University, he won the International Politics Dissertation Prize.
Archie Breare joined techUK in September 2022 as the Telecoms Programme intern, and moved into the Policy and Public Affairs team in February 2023.
Before starting at techUK, Archie was a student at the University of Cambridge, completing an undergraduate degree in History and a master's degree in Modern British History.
In his spare time, he likes to read, discuss current affairs, and to try and persuade himself to cycle more.
techUK's Skills, Talent and Diversity Programme activities
techUK work with our members to signpost the opportunity of digital jobs and ensure these opportunities are open to people of diverse backgrounds. We strive to help our members attract, recruit, and retain a diverse workforce, whilst showcasing their work on workplace innovation. Visit the programme page here.
Jobs and Skills
To make sure that the UK is a world-leading digital economy that works for everyone, it is crucial that people have the digital skills needed for life and work. Rapid digitalisation is creating surging demand for digital skills across the economy and the current domestic skills pipeline cannot keep up. Digitalisation is also leading to rapid changes in the labour market that means some traditional roles are being displaced. There is an urgent need to better match the demand and supply.
The future of work is changing. Technology is powering a growth in flexible work across the economy, whilst emerging technologies such as robotics and AI are set to become common place. techUK believes the UK must consider the implications of digital transformation in the world of work now, equipping people and businesses across the country with the skills and conditions needed to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the 4IR.
Diversity and inclusion sits at the heart of digital growth. The tech sector understands that innovation thrives from diversity of thought and is continually looking to attract, recruit and retain a diverse workforce. techUK is proud to support a number of initiatives that promote this, from doing outreach work to ensure that people regardless of their background are inspired into tech, to initiatives that help build more inclusive workplaces for those with different accessibility needs.
Returners programmes offer a supported bridge back to work for people who have taken a career break. Providing ways for people to ease back into work after a career break is a vital way to make sure we do not lose out on their talent and experience. The techUK returners hub was created as a one-stop-shop for people looking to return to a career in digital.
Our members develop strong networks, build meaningful partnerships and grow their businesses as we all work together to create a thriving environment where industry, government and stakeholders come together to realise the positive outcomes tech can deliver.
Archie Breare joined techUK in September 2022 as the Telecoms Programme intern, and moved into the Policy and Public Affairs team in February 2023.
Before starting at techUK, Archie was a student at the University of Cambridge, completing an undergraduate degree in History and a master's degree in Modern British History.
In his spare time, he likes to read, discuss current affairs, and to try and persuade himself to cycle more.
