Digital inclusion

Socio-digital inclusion is a major component of Orange Polska’s corporate social responsibility strategy.

Nowadays, in the information society age, unequal access to the Internet, lack of digital skills, as well as differences in awareness and motivation regarding use of digital services result in the differentiation of life chances of individuals in multiple dimensions: from education and work to consumption. This process has been intensified by the growing role of digital services in social and economic life. It is all the more important because social and economic inequalities (income disparities, educational inequalities, differences in cultural capital) themselves determine access to and use of new technologies.

In 2021, Orange Polska in conjunction with the Orange Foundation and the Shipyard Foundation developed the Socio-digital Exclusion in Poland: State of Affairs, Trends and Recommendations report. By “sociodigital exclusion” we mean permanent and structural limitation of life opportunities of individuals and local communities due to overlapping and mutually reinforcing unfavourable social and economic factors as well as deficits in use of digital services.

Socio-digital Exclusion in Poland report

The Report identified specific groups towards which initiatives supporting digital inclusion should be addressed in the first place during the pandemic and post-pandemic period. The groups most vulnerable to socio-digital exclusion include senior citizens, people with low education, residents of rural areas, people with disabilities, people experiencing homelessness crisis and school-age children.

The conclusions of the Report served as a basis for planning our efforts for digital inclusion in the customer service area (towards elderly customers and customers with disabilities) as well as social area. We wanted such a way of thinking about socio-digital exclusion to be translated into practice, also in our social initiatives. The Orange Foundation has been carrying out digital education projects for over a decade, addressing its offer to schools and small communities, and through them to children, parents, educators, community leaders or residents of small towns and villages.

We decided to review our two main projects addressed to schools, MegaMission and #SuperCoders, to reach regions with the highest socio-digital exclusion rate. Thanks to a research team from the Shipyard Foundation, we developed the Local Exclusion Index based on the analysis of almost 30 indicators describing the social, demographic and economic condition of local communities (local administrative units) in Poland and comprising four dimensions:

Social exclusion: differences related to the severity of issues such as poverty, unemployment or low human capital;
Economic exclusion: differences in the condition of the local economy, business activity and economic climate;
Digital exclusion: local disparities in access to the telecommunication infrastructure and the opportunities it offers;
Educational exclusion: differences in the education level of parents of schoolage children (i.e. the main target group for the Orange Foundation’s initiatives) and learning outcomes in primary schools.

We mapped the Index over Poland to find out where we should go with our educational programmes to help those who needed it most.

55 %

of people who have never used the web live in rural areas

~66 %

of non-users of the internet cite no need as a reason

>52 %

of households without network access cite lack of the relevant skills as a reason

The key form of digital exclusion, determining non-usage of the internet, is motivational exclusion.

The Orange Foundation used the Index in a school recruitment procedure to its projects. In the 2021–2022 edition, the Foundation intensified communications regarding its two key projects in the regions particularly vulnerable to socio-digital exclusion.

The Local Exclusion Index has indicated that over 20% of local administrative units in Poland are at a high risk of exclusion (i.e. have the highest score). Schools from these areas were offered additional opportunities in the educational projects of the Orange Foundation.

As a result, almost one fifth of the schools which have qualified into both projects are located in the areas most vulnerable to socio-digital exclusion. This is almost two-fold higher percentage versus the previous edition. The share of schools from regions at a risk of exclusion among project beneficiaries is now 40% higher than their overall share among schools in Poland.

Annual Report 2021

Economic impact

Orange Foundation

Digital inclusion

Socio-digital Exclusion in Poland report

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