From Ad-hoc to Impact funding
The conversation around how we fund and deliver public good is undergoing a fundamental shift. The new Prime Minister is placing a heavy, deliberate emphasis on the “impact economy” and backed by landmark Office for the Impact Economy, the mandate for cross-sector collaboration has never been clearer. For existing alliances bringing together sectors to drive digital inclusion, moving beyond traditional short-term grants requires a bold, system-wide mobilisation mindset.
For too long, digital inclusion has been treated primarily as a social welfare issue or a charitable add-on, relying heavily on short-term grants and corporate social responsibility budgets. The impact economy framework invites us to look deeper. Digital exclusion is not just a social deficit, it is a core structural barrier to economic growth, workforce readiness, and regional productivity. By aligning digital inclusion metrics directly with national renewal outcomes such as sustainable employment and regional productivity, we open the door to institutional impact capital, pension funds and major enterprise backing rather than competing solely for scarce grant pools.
To achieve true systems change, we must move past fragmented, short-term grant cycles that incentivise one-off device distributions over root-cause resolution. Innovative investment approaches are actively reengineering how we fund systemic digital participation.
We do not have to look far to see this mobilisation mindset working in practice. In Greater Manchester the new PM reframed digital connectivity not as a nice-to-have, but as the “fourth utility” as essential to daily life and economic participation as water, gas, and electricity. By establishing cross-sector structures that brought together local councils, NHS bodies, major telecom providers and grassroots organisations, the region proved that impact economy convening can turn digital inclusion into a cornerstone of regional economic renewal.
A major bottleneck in scaling impact is fragmentation. Too many local authorities, delivery partners, and corporate donors work with their heads down getting on with it well but creating high transaction costs and administrative friction. By positioning the digital inclusion with a backbone organisation as a neutral, trusted convening hub, we believe we can simplify how external partners and public bodies plug into local delivery networks. This reduces duplication, streamlines capital flow, and ensures that resources are deployed where they are needed most.
The transition toward an impact-driven economy is an open invitation to work differently. By embracing innovative investment vehicles, aligning procurement, and proving the undeniable economic value of digital inclusion, backbone programmes can help bridge the gap between national impact goals and grassroots community delivery.
As Scotland’s Digital Inclusion Alliance embarks on its first major piece of insights research over the coming months, the sector has a timely and vital opportunity to examine and reshape how we fund digital participation. By moving beyond traditional grant models to embrace blended finance, aligned procurement, and strategic cross-sector collaboration, we can construct a more resilient funding architecture. For leaders across public, private, and voluntary domains, this upcoming work offers a powerful opportunity to help transition digital equity from an ad-hoc effort into an enduring pillar of national renewal.
