What could we achieve with an extra £63 billion a year in the economy? This isn’t a hypothetical question, but represents the staggering cost of digital poverty in the UK and underscores a critical reality: digital exclusion is more than a social issue, but a profound economic drain that impacts our global competitiveness.
Local authorities and charity initiatives are striving to improve digital inclusion within their communities. However, they face significant obstacles to effective intervention. Sourcing suitable devices, establishing sustainable loaner programmes that prioritise long-term impact over one-off gifting and consistently demonstrating impact through verifiable data are crucial for securing support from donating organisations and funders.
The Untapped Goldmine of Legacy IT
Consider the vast number of old Windows 10 devices gathering dust following an IT refresh or destined for disposal when they will stop receiving support and security updates after 14th October 2025. Each one represents a missed opportunity to provide a potential lifeline for an individual struggling with digital exclusion, yet contributing to the growing problem of e-waste.
Until recently, those old and slow laptops offered little viable use for device donation schemes, especially when factoring in the stringent data privacy policies that mandate secure asset and data destruction once deprovisioned. Getech Digital Bridge now enables the effortless repurposing of these devices, directly overcoming barriers to digital inclusion, significantly reducing e-waste and actively supporting the circular economy.
Clearing Hurdles with ChromeOS Flex
The biggest challenges for councils seeking to repurpose devices fall into three categories:
The Data Security Nightmare: Handing over an old device with sensitive data isn’t an option, making an ADISA-certified forensic data destruction an indispensable step. As part of Getech’s Digital Bridge, trained technicians perform a complete and irretrievable erasure of all data and provides the donating organisation with a verifiable audit trail alongside a Data Destruction Certificate for iron-clad peace of mind and compliance with data protection regulations.
The Management Burden: Managing hundreds or even thousands of Windows devices across potentially as many locations can quickly become an IT department's worst nightmare. Converting these devices to ChromeOS Flex, combined with Chrome Enterprise Upgrade, transforms this situation by enabling total oversight of every device from anywhere, coupled with a set-and-forget management experience via the cloud-based Google Admin Console. This means even a vast pool of devices is easily managed, often by just one IT administrator as a part-time project.
Proving Your Impact: Demonstrating the tangible success of your digital inclusion efforts is critical, especially when sourcing donated devices from large organisations that require a deeper level of detail into device usage and other metrics. The Google Admin console provides that robust data needed to measure engagement, refine programmes and satisfy CSR and sustainability reporting requirements.
Real-World Transformation: Councils Leading the Way
This is not theory; it is a proven reality. Councils and organisations across the UK are already making a tangible difference:
The Royal Air Force Air Cadets: Faced with the challenge of providing laptops to cadets whose families couldn’t afford them, the RAF turned to ChromeOS Flex to refresh donated Windows devices, enabling cadets to participate fully in online coursework and STEM programmes. This approach simplified device lending with single sign-on and allowed a small IT team to manage every device efficiently.
Bury Council: Embracing ChromeOS Flex to bridge the digital divide in its communities while reducing e-waste, Bury Council chose to repurpose donated devices to support residents with digital access. Pamela Czerniecka, Digital Inclusion & Engagement Officer at Bury Council noted, “We’re empowering residents with the digital access they need to thrive… ensuring everyone in Bury has the opportunity to participate fully in our digital society.”
Kirklees Council: Initially struggling to manage 250 Windows computers in libraries, Kirklees Council deployed ChromeOS devices with managed guest sessions. Today, more than 1,500 ChromeOS devices are in use by residents through lending programmes or at digital hubs. This expansion demonstrates a significant increase in digital access with a minimal increase in IT management burden. Managing 200 Windows devices once consumed a full-time IT role. Now, with ChromeOS, it is a fraction of the workload, saving approximately 40 hours weekly.
Moving the Needle
Getech Digital Bridge offers an end-to-end service, designed for local authorities to leverage a smarter way to tackle digital poverty. This comprehensive solution covers secure collection, ADISA-certified forensic data destruction, seamless deployment of ChromeOS Flex and Chrome Enterprise Upgrade, efficient delivery of devices to end-users and ongoing training and support.
To learn more about how Getech can support your organisation’s efforts to address the digital divide in your communities, contact their team of experts for a free, no-obligation consultation.
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