his paper considers the case study of a digital inclusion pilot in Kenya, led by Good Things Foundation in 2017 and 2018. There are 3.9 billion digitally excluded people worldwide (53% of the world’s population) Although 47% of the world’s population are internet users, this number drops to 28% of the population of Africa. The aim of the Digital Life Kenya pilot was to test Good Things Foundation's social digital inclusion model and resources in a developing country, working in partnership with a network of local organisations - in this case Kenya National Library Service (knls). 10 libraries received face-to-face Digital Champion training, and 52 received training and information digitally. Over 1,000 library customers were supported to gain basic digital skills, however the pilot did not reach the most socially and digitally excluded people in Kenya. Kenyan libraries are mainly used by young people to support their formal education. They are motivated by employment and earning money. Some use the library computers to earn money. Government services are going online, and more and more people are coming to the libraries to engage with eGovernment services. But education is a divider, and basic literacy is a barrier for many adults. A lack of English is a barrier to engaging with libraries and learning digital skills. People are busy earning money to spend on domestic duties, and don’t have the time to learn, or the 20 Kenyan Shillings a day to use the library. Libraries have unstable internet connectivity and some librarians found it hard to advocate the benefits of digital to others. Recommendations for future work in this area include working with a more varied network of community partners, co-designing approaches to teaching people basic digital skills, and working more closely with people or organisations on the ground in Kenya.

1. Case study:
Digital Life: Kenya
DIPRC2019 | 19th June 2019
Emily Redmond | @RedmondEm | @goodthingsfdn

2. Social & Digital Inclusion Charity

3. Some context...

7. Digital exclusion is a
worldwide problem

15. Slides with pics of visits

20. Pilot Impact
● 1,000 + registrations
● Advocacy and Thought Leadership
● Free Resource
● Unsupported Use
● Skills for work

24. 1. Learners and librarians benefitted from
Learn My Way but the content needs to be
more tailored to a Kenyan audience.

25. 2. We supported over 1,000 learners with basic
digital skills, but we didn’t reach the most
socially and digitally excluded people in Kenya.

26. Persona 1: Working and trying to keep up
● Employed but limited access - few have
internet access at home
● Limited use and skill
● Everything’s online and they’re expected
to do things online for their jobs
● Teachers, prison guards, librarians
● Use Cyber Cafes and Libraries

27. Persona 2: Educated but unemployed
● Completed high school, college and some even uni
● Unable to find work
● Varied access - many have smartphones - mobile
data and shared hotspots
● Engaged - use Cyber Cafes and Libraries
● Some earn online. Interested in IT and office work
● “Already got the basics”

28. Persona 3: Low educated
● People who didn’t finish school
● Have used the internet before but limited use and skill
● Dumb phones and smart phones
● School leavers
● Poor literacy
● Informal workers, motorbike riders
● Use Cyber Cafes

29. Persona 4: Isolated and excluded
● People in rural areas who have never used the internet
● ‘Dumb’ phones
● Never been to school
● Illiterate
● Mothers at home
● Farmers and manual workers
● Older people

31. 3. Network management and advocacy are two
of the key strengths of Good Things
Foundation, but this was more difficult to do
when working at a distance. We are not the
experts.

32. ● es

33. Employability
Earning
Accreditation
Connecting
online
eGovernment

34. Education
Literacy
Cost
Access

36. Support ( or just access?) available:
● Cyber Cafes
● Huduma Centres
● eGov training being developed
● Microsoft, Google Digital Garage
● NGOs
● Libraries with capacity
● Gadget for offline content
● Uni students as volunteers

37. Service challenges:
● Low efficiency, high return rates and long waiting times
● Information and privacy risks
● Lack of skill & holistic approach (how to motivate others)
● Lack of localised resources
● Doing it for people
● Poor internet connectivity in libraries
● Internet investment up to county governments
● Heavy Learn My Way

39. What we can learn about delivery from Y1?
● Digital literacy and confidence
● Holistic approach - social inclusion
● Part of role, not an add-on
● Freedom and confidence
● Stable connectivity/lighter content
● Outreach

42. What’s next?
1. More research!
2. Working more closely with people or organisations on
the ground
3. Expanding our network of community partners
4. Co-designing and testing approaches to engaging and
teaching people basic digital skills in Kenya

43. DIPRC2019 | 19th June 2019
Emily Redmond | @RedmondEm | @goodthingsfdn