The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is encouraging other departments to join a government-led initiative to donate their used devices to people experiencing digital exclusion.
The Ministry was the first to sign up to DSIT’s IT Reuse for Good charter, which consists of a pledge to continually refurbish and gift old devices over time. This was launched in partnership with the Good Things Foundation, VodafoneThree and Deloitte in June last year.
Since then, the MHCLG has sent 60 laptops to children from disadvantaged backgrounds through the Digital Poverty Alliance, donated devices to kinship carers, and funded six specialist sanitising charging cabinets for London NHS Trusts.
In a blog post, the Ministry’s Live Services team said that “behind every donation is a family whose life just got a little easier.”
They added: “Our commitment to this charter is a reminder that small changes in how we manage everyday resources can add up to something meaningful, and we hope this inspires others.”
DSIT’s charter requires signatories to “take a reuse first approach to IT asset management”, to “embed” the approach over time, and to ensure devices are “refurbished to good quality” and provided free of charge to those who are digitally excluded.
It also asks participants to “measure and report bi-annually on the environmental benefits and social impacts” of the programme, and to “share lessons learned and encourage others to join the movement”.
Elizabeth Anderson, Chief Executive Officer at Digital Poverty Alliance said that she was “grateful” for MHCLG’s involvement in the scheme.
She said: “The young people these have gone to have already told us the difference that they have made – to accessing their education, looking for work and finding support for mental health, as well as much more.”
The Ministry advised departments interested in the scheme to identify charities capable of accepting bulk donations to avoid creating an administrative burden for their staff, to speak to existing IT Asset Disposition (ITAD) suppliers about whether they could help in the process, and to encourage staff to treat devices with care.
Going forward, MHCLG intends to develop a longer-term relationship with charities such as the Digital Poverty Alliance.
Other signatories to the charter include the DVLA, the Scottish Government, the local authorities for Liverpool and Essex, and tech companies such as Currys and Google, among others.