The real estate sector is hungry for fresh talent and, as data and technology become integral to its operation, digital skills are going to be vital. But the industry could find itself struggling as digital poverty across the country reaches unacceptable levels.
According to Ofcom, about 9% of children in the UK – between 1.1m and 1.8m – do not have access to a laptop, desktop or tablet at home. Furthermore over 880,000 of children live in a household with only a mobile internet connection. The closure of schools across the country, through various lockdowns, has further hightlighted how many school children are missing out on education because of a lack of access to technology.
The real estate industry is committed to improving its diversity and inclusion, particularly with regard to social mobility, and EG is calling on the sector to help do something to ease, if not end, digital poverty in the UK.
Numerous members of the Windsor Group, including CBRE, JLL, Knight Frank, Savills, Colliers International, Allsop, Avison Young and Gerald Eve have already made a commitment to do their bit by partnering with charity Computer Aid to donate their unwanted personal and company PCs and laptops. And now we are asking more of you to join in with our #REBoot initiative.
Computer Aid will collect any viable unwanted IT equipment donated by participating companies – and individuals – and professionally and securely refurbish them before donating them to school children in the most deprived areas across the country.
The registered charity says it needs around 1,000 PCs and laptops a month to be able to equip 40 schools with a digital classroom. Digital classrooms can cater for as many 100 students per day to learn the IT skills necessary for a successful and fulfilling future.
So far, signed-up participants believe they could donate hundreds of devices to Computer Aid in a move that would not only help give young people access to the technology they need to progress in life, but will also enable the real estate sector to make a real difference and to engage with the future stars of the sector.
EG is proud to be supporting this initiative and calls on the industry – agents, lawyers, investors, developers, planners and funders alike – to join forces to combat digital poverty. Together, the industry could make a real impact on those Ofcom figures and give thousands more children the access to technology so many of us take for granted.
It is time for real estate to reboot the digital connectivity of its future, talented workforce.
How it works
CBRE has negotiated a contract with Computer Aid which allows laptops to be collected, data-wiped, professionally refurbished, allocated and distributed to a school or charity. The scope of the contract covers laptops only and sets out the donation process for company-owned laptops as well as those laptops that are owned by employees, friends or family members.
A standard copy of this contract can be made available to all companies participating in the #REBoot initiative by Computer Aid upon request.
For company donations, Computer Aid will provide each company with a unique company code to enable tracking of the laptops, will arrange for collection of the laptops, asset track them and provide an impact report at the end of each year summarising the social and environment value created as a result of the donations.
Individual donors are asked to visit the Computer Aid website, where they will need to follow the links to IT Disposal > For Individuals > Data Wiping. They will then be asked to fill in a form to check their device meets minimum criteria for the service. They should enter their unique company code in the field titled “Redeem a Gift Certificate or Coupon” to ensure that the check-out is free of charge, and that the donation can be tracked against the #REBoot initiative.
Donations must meet the minimum laptop specification detailed on the Computer Aid website – broadly equivalent to seven years old or less.
To find out more about how to donate and logistics, contact Keith Sonnet at Computer Aid, quoting the #REBoot hashtag and drop EG editor Samantha McClary a note sharing why you are getting involved and how many devices you hope to provide
To send feedback, e-mail samantha.mcclary@egi.co.uk or tweet @samanthamcclary or @estatesgazette
