The Tech Shock Podcast - Kat Dixon
05 Jan, 2023
2 minute read

The Tech Shock Podcast - Kat Dixon

In this episode Vicki and Geraldine are joined by Kat Dixon, researcher and fellow of the Data Poverty Lab – a collaboration between Nominet and the Good Things Foundation, designed to uncover and propose solutions to data poverty in the UK.

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Kat details what data poverty looks like in the UK today, and clears up some common misconceptions about who it impacts. It doesn’t just affect the elderly or those from lower socioeconomic groups – any household without sufficient internet access to meet their essential needs is impacted by data poverty. 

With both infrastructure quality being poor in certain areas of the UK, and services and functions (including healthcare, work, education, citizenship, and even creativity) now so reliant on data access, the number of individuals experiencing this form of poverty is higher than we might first assume.

The group further questions the causal roots of data poverty. How big a part do household finances play? Do people lose out on educational and working opportunities in the first place because of data poverty – or is this best understood as a vicious cycle? 

The discussion then moves on to solutions. After introducing the ‘WiFi in a box’ scheme as one forward-facing answer to data poverty, Kat asks the group to consider why existing options aren’t working. With only 3.2% of those eligible actually applying for social tariffs, what more can be done to increase both awareness and uptake of currently available solutions?

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