Digital divide
Three levels
- Access: having a connection and a device, and being able to pay for them every month
- Skills: being able to do an online procedure, run a tool, recognise a scam
- Uses: getting a real benefit from it, for oneself or one's organisation, rather than enduring it
A public can have access and lack uses; the remedy is not the same. When you describe the digital divide in an application, separate the three levels: that is what makes the proposed action credible.
What the figures say
The King Baudouin Foundation's Digital Inclusion Barometer is the Belgian reference: in 2024, 40% of Belgians aged 16 to 74 were in a situation of digital vulnerability, for lack of access, skills or uses. Statbel's surveys on ICT use by households complete the picture. These sources are updated regularly: cite the edition and the year. Source: King Baudouin Foundation, Digital Inclusion Barometer 2024.
On the associations' side
The digital divide has a less visible face: that of organisations. A poorly equipped association (dated website, no contact base, tools at company prices, nobody to look after them) helps its public less well, loses volunteers who cannot find it, and spends days on files a tool would do in hours. Many digital inclusion actors are themselves in that case. The Kern4Good programme was born from that observation: equip those who equip.
What it changes in the design of a website
- Practical information before the speech: where, when, how to come, whom to call
- Pages that load fast on a weak connection and an old phone
- Plain language, without administrative jargon, with the words the publics use
- A phone number and a help desk visible for those who will not do the procedure online
In Kern4Good
The programme acts on the organisational face of the divide: websites and tools at cost, training of the teams, websites readable on an entry-level phone and in plain language. It provides neither connectivity nor devices; other actors do, and the programme works with them when a cohort allows it. The Digital divide theme describes the approach; the sponsored cohort, free for the association, is made for those with no budget at all.
Further reading
Does Kern4Good act on access and hardware?
No. The programme equips associations with websites and tools, it provides neither connectivity nor devices. Other actors do, and we work with them when a cohort allows it.
Does the digital divide only concern older people?
No. It affects publics of all ages depending on income, education and situation. The barometers show it year after year.
Does a website reduce the digital divide?
Not on its own. A readable, fast, plain-language website lowers a usage barrier for those already online; for the others, the association is the bridge, and it is the association that the programme equips.
Where to find up-to-date figures for an application?
The King Baudouin Foundation's Digital Inclusion Barometer, Statbel's ICT surveys, and the regions' reports on digital inclusion. Always cite the edition and the year, figures move.