After researching and compiling a report on which UK regions have the most significant digital skills gap, the Independent’s Advisor Broadband department found that the East Midlands has the fewest residents capable of basic digital tasks (21%).

In second place is neighbouring West Midlands, where 20% of residents can’t complete foundation-level digital tasks. The region also has a rate of 11% for people who don’t have access to or use the internet.

The West Midlands is followed by the North East and Wales in joint third place, with 18% of residents in each region lacking basic digital understanding. In the North East, around 12% of households lack access to the internet, while this figure falls to 7% for Wales.

However, the adjacent North West has the highest proportion of people who are capable of completing foundational digital tasks, with 13% unable to do so. The North West is followed by London, with 14% not possessing basic digital skills, and then jointly followed by the South East, South West, Northern Ireland, and Scotland at 15%.

The team’s research also highlighted that Northern Ireland ranks first for regions in the UK with the most Google searches for the meaning of standard internet abbreviations, and also has the most searches for troubleshooting questions out of all UK regions.

A study from Age UK called Offline and Overlooked released just last week found that a significant number of people aged 65 and above face barriers in using the internet effectively.

According to the charity, approximately 4.7 million seniors in the UK struggle to carry out basic internet-related activities, including turning on devices, managing account logins, setting up WiFi connections, and keeping passwords secure.

What’s more, 2.3 million seniors in the same age group do not use the internet at all, with nearly half of this group aged 75 and above.

Similarly, recent research from Digital Poverty Alliance (DPA) and Deloitte discovered that up to 19 million people in the UK over the age of 16 are currently experiencing some form of digital poverty.

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Speaking on the need for more basic digital education, Gemma Ryles, a home technology expert at Independent Advisor Broadband, commented: “For a lot of the aspects of our daily lives, there has been a gradual shift to those being primarily conducted online.

“One of those primary aspects is our work lives, especially after the pandemic; more people are now working from home, which requires doing a lot of our work and daily tasks online and using various software. As such, there is a need for more accessibility for people to be educated on basic digital skills.

“Outside of our work lives, everything from banking services to shopping, and leisure activities, such as watching TV shows and films and gaming, are all done online. Without having a basic grasp on digital technology, daily life can only become more difficult to navigate in the future.”