Leaving no one behind in a digital world: the United Kingdom’s Digital Access Programme

Prior to 2016, the United Kingdom had a predominantly sectoral approach to promoting digital technologies in international development programmes, focusing on digital financial inclusion, digital health, ed-tech, agri-tech, etc. While these interventions yielded useful results, their scalability and sustainability were constrained by lack of connectivity, digital skills, digital content and services for underserved communities, safety and security in the cyber space, and support for local digital enterprises.

The World Bank’s 2016 Digital Dividends World Development Report marked a turning point in international thinking on digital development. It highlighted the importance of resolving fundamental barriers such as the connectivity gap, while also working on the analogue complements – such as regulatory frameworks and digital skills - for the adoption of digital technologies. Following its publication, the UK’s former Department for International Development (DFID) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) (merged since September 2020 to form the Foreign, Commonwealth, Development Office or FCDO), along with the Digital, Culture, Media and Sports Department (DCMS), now the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), joined forces to promote digital transformation as a cross-cutting issue. The joint challenge was to design, develop and roll-out a cross-government initiative that would leverage the expertise needed to promote digital development in an integrated, holistic manner and support inclusive, responsible and sustainable digital transformation in partner countries.

• The Digital Access Programme (DAP) started in 2018. The following steps were taken to address the challenges linked to setting up a complex, cross-government programme:

• Raising awareness across government on the need for a cross-cutting view of digitalisation as a key enabler of inclusion and transformation. The DFID’s Digital Strategy for 2018-2020 helped raise this awareness, but a dedicated programme was needed to demonstrate a cross-government, holistic approach to digital development in practice. The impact and evidence from the DAP were also instrumental for testing this approach, which is promoted in the FCDO Digital Development Strategy 2024-2030.

• Developing a joint programme using the technical expertise and programme design and delivery skills from each department. The programme was developed as part of the cross-government Prosperity Fund portfolio and was focused on middle-income countries, which typically display a significant digital divide, whilst having the basic infrastructure and institutional capacity needed for digital adoption.

• Assembling a cross-departmental team with expertise in digital inclusion, cybersecurity, digital entrepreneurship and programme delivery. The team conducted five in-depth digital access country diagnostics in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Brazil and Indonesia over nine months to consult with key stakeholders and assess the needs and potential strategic direction for a holistic intervention on digital development. Preparation for the diagnostic missions included detailed desk reviews of available evidence and questionnaire design.

• Using the digital access country diagnostic reports to design a country-specific programme business case and advocate for support from senior leaders and ministers for this innovative and yet untested type of programme.

• Delivering pilots in two partner countries to reinforce buy-in, rapidly demonstrating the programme’s potential by providing evidence and visibility with minimum investment. The pilots were used to refine the programme’s adaptive delivery model. The latter included outsourcing the cybersecurity capacity building; working with embassy-based “tech hubs” to support digital entrepreneurship; and using a hybrid model of in-house, direct and outsourced delivery for the more complex and larger component focused on digital inclusion (i.e. connectivity, digital skills, content and services for underserved communities).

• Obtaining ministerial approval for the DAP and its rollout in the five partner countries. After the initial diagnostic and piloting phase, the implementation phase started in July 2019. This included building specialist programme teams in embassies or high commissions, engaging directly with key stakeholders in-country (e.g. telecommunications regulators and information communication technologies [ICT] authorities) and co-designing projects with a range of local and international partners.

• According to its official 2024 Annual Review, the DAP scored A+ for exceeding delivery expectations and strengthening digital ecosystems. Through testing and demonstration of 327 scalable models for inclusive, safe and secure digital access across five partner countries, the DAP reached over 113.5million people in 5,122 underserved communities enhancing their connectivity, digital skills and access to locally relevant digital content and services in 2023-24.

• The DAP has enabled the development of 18 national plans, policies, strategies and regulations, including for example the National ICT plan and TV White Space regulations for last-mile connectivity and shared spectrum framework in Kenya, a community networks policy framework in Brazil, the National Broadband Plan in Nigeria and the Digital Inclusion in Telemedicine Strategy in Indonesia.

• In Indonesia, successful DAP initiatives include an online safety website in Bahasa Indonesia language and a project to raise awareness of online gender-based violence with Indonesian NGO SAFEnet.

• In Nigeria, the DAP trained over 6 000 individuals from over 3 000 small and medium-sized enterprises in cyber security essentials, and a successful cyber hygiene awareness campaign reached over 46 million people through social media and radio.

• The Government of Kenya and the DAP Tech Hub launched the Business Regulatory Tool-Kit to enhance local digital entrepreneurs’ access to clear, user-friendly information on the regulatory environment. The online toolkit had over 300 000 hits in the first three months and over one million by June 2021.

FCDO (2024), “Digital Access Programme”, DAP Development Tracker, https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/programme/GB-1-204963/documents.

Communications Authority of Kenya (2021), Licensing and Shared Spectrum Framework for Community Networks, http://ca.go.ke/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Licensing-and-Shared-Spectrum-Framework-for-Community-Networks-May-2021.docx.pdf.

Communications Authority of Kenya (2021), “Authorisation of the Use of TV White Spaces”, Dynamic Spectrum Access Framework, https://ca.go.ke/sites/default/files/2025-01/Licensing%20and%20Shared%20Spectrum%20Framework%20for%20Community%20Networks%20May-2021.pdf.

Nigerian Communications Commission (2020), Nigerian National Broadband Plan 2020 – 2025, https://ncc.gov.ng/media-center/public-notices/new-nigerian-national-broadband-plan-2020-2025.

DFID (2018), DFID Digital Strategy 2018 to 2020: Doing Development in a Digital World, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dfid-digital-strategy-2018-to-2020-doing-development-in-a-digital-world.

OECD (2021), Development Co-operation Report 2021: Shaping a Just Digital Transformation, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/ce08832f-en.

OECD (2020), OECD Development Co-operation Peer Reviews: United Kingdom 2020, OECD Development Co-operation Peer Reviews, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/43b42243-en.

To learn more about United Kingdom’s development co-operation, see:

OECD, "United Kingdom", in Development Co-operation Profiles, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/2dcf1367-en.

See more In Practice examples from The United Kingdom here: https://www.oecd.org/development-cooperation-learning?tag-key+partner=unitedkingdom#search.