FutureDotNow newsletter - July 2025
FutureDotNow
We are uniting business to tackle the essential digital skills gap in the UK workforce.
Hi there, here's what you'll find in this month's bumper newsletter:
- Catch up with us mid-sprint
- Our growing Charter community
- Help shape how we measure digital skills progress
- The ROI of digital upskilling? We can tell you
- New insight: the basics needed for a digital life
- London Tech Week Round-up
- Education Sector Pathway
Catch up with us mid-sprint
If you missed the mid-point meeting for Sprint 2 of the 2025 delivery plan to close the workforce digital skills gap - you're in luck! The call recording will be available very soon.
Find out about the progress being made across the Enabler and Pathway projects – including how you can get involved if you’re not already part of a working group.
Our growing Charter community
We’re very pleased to welcome a host of new organisations to our coalition as signatories of the Workforce Digital Skills Charter.
If you’ve not yet signed the Charter, why not join these and almost 200 other employers?
Help shape how we measure digital skills progress
Can you take a few minutes to complete a short questionnaire on how your organisation currently measures workforce digital skills?
Even if your organisation isn’t yet benchmarking digital skills, your input is incredibly valuable.
This is part of a new workstream on developing consistent metrics to track progress in digital capability – something many of you have told us matters.
Our first step is to document how digital skills are currently being measured across the community. Your confidential insights will help build a stronger, shared approach to reporting and impact.
NB. Responses are limited to one per employer. Charter signatories and organisations involved in our Delivery Plan will have also received a separate survey invitation.
The ROI of digital upskilling? We can tell you
If you’re looking to make a business case for investment in upskilling, the FutureDotNow Calculator is a powerful new tool that puts a number on the value of digital skills.
Developed with the Centre for Economic and Business Research ( Cebr ) , the calculator uses a few details about your business to provide a tailored projection of productivity and profitability gains - per employee and across your business.
Examples
- A construction firm in the North-West with c.100 employees would see productivity boost of c. £300,000 a year and £100,000 p/a increase in profits.
- A London-based retailer with 2,000 full-time staff would get a boost of almost £3 million, with profits up more than £1 million!
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And these aren’t one-off boosts. Once a worker becomes more digitally capable, the benefits compound year after year.
If you're a FutureDotNow member, you can access the calculator now.
New insight: the basics needed for a digital life
A new report has expanded the UK’s first national benchmark for household digital inclusion: the Minimum Digital Living Standard (MDLS) (MDLS).
Developed with public input and led by Loughborough University, the University of Liverpool , and Good Things Foundation , the MDLS outlines the essentials needed to thrive in today’s digital world, including access to digital devices and services, and both the functional and critical skills we all need.
The research also explores how needs vary across household types and flags challenges such as affordability and connectivity, offering a timely guide for inclusive progress.
London Tech Week Round-up
Last week, London Tech Week 2025 brought together over 45,000 attendees from across the globe to explore the future of technology, with AI and digital transformation taking centre stage.
Our CEO Liz Williams MBE represented the coalition at two major events:
- At the AI Summit London she joined other leaders to discuss the need for an ethical, accessible and inclusive roll-out of AI
- At the CIPD Festival of Work she highlighted the importance of digital essentials in an ever-evolving work skills landscape
Our Head of Insight and Engagement Paul Fleming (FLPI) also took to the stage during the launch of new insight into the Minimum Digital Living Standard.
From government pledges to hands-on innovation showcases, the week underscored the urgency—and opportunity—of building a digitally confident nation.
Education Sector Pathway
As the second sprint of the 2025 delivery plan continues apace, our education sector pathway is mobilising with force.
The working group is co-led by Gateway Qualifications and AELP (The Association of Employment and Learning Providers) who hosted a webinar earlier this week to showcase the importance of the mission and to encourage more organisations to get involved, starting with signing the Charter.
Next week, work continues at the AELP National Conference, including workshops on how the sector can work together to close the workforce digital skills gap.
If you’re interesting getting involved in the education pathway, let us know.