Closed call for evidence

DSIT Central Statistics user engagement exercise

Published 18 December 2024

1. Introduction

This user engagement exercise seeks feedback on the plans for collecting new Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) public engagement data. This product would produce a regular set of outputs that will incorporate the digital elements of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Participation Survey, facilitate comparisons across policy areas and provide insights on how the public engages with DSIT policy areas.  

From 2025/26, questions on the digital sector will no longer be included in the DCMS Participation Survey.  As a result, we are exploring options for continuing, discontinuing or changing these statistics in accordance with user needs. 

The purpose of the product would be to provide a comprehensive understanding of public engagement with DSIT’s policies, which will inform decision-making and policy development. The dissemination of official statistics produced from this product would also provide external stakeholders with the opportunity to see trends and patterns relating to these topics. 

We are seeking feedback to understand how our proposed plan would impact users. Data collected as part of this user engagement exercise, alongside an internal DSIT stakeholder engagement exercise, will form the evidence base for the development of this statistical series. We invite feedback from all stakeholders and users of both the digital element of the DCMS Participation Survey and those with an interest in measuring citizens’ engagement to broader DSIT policies.

If you have any questions regarding this user engagement exercise or on the plan to collect new DSIT public engagement data, please email us on statistics@dsit.gov.uk.

If you have any feedback on the non-digital Participation Survey collection of statistics that will remain the responsibility of DCMS, please contact participationsurvey@dcms.gov.uk.

2. Proposal

The DSIT public engagement data would aim to inform policy decisions and address evidence needs across DSIT. After conducting internal engagement, our proposal is that the collection of DSIT public engagement data will be conducted annually with a representative sample of adults aged 16 and over in the UK. The first data collection is expected to commence during 2025/26, with the first set of outputs produced using this data published in Summer 2026.

The proposed data collection would gather data on the following broad policy areas:

Technology adoption, barriers and enablers: 

• Usage of technologies by citizens and their attitudes towards them. 
• Uses in the workplace and personal use 
• Harms experienced when using technology 

Trust and acceptability: 

• Trust in public and private sector uses of technology 
• Expectations of the Government’s use of technology 

Emerging technologies (including AI): 

• Perceptions of benefits, risks and ethical considerations 
• Level of citizen comfort or discomfort with using new technologies 
• Public perception of the economic impact of emerging technologies 

Digital inclusion and equality: 

• Prevalence of those who consider themselves to be digitally excluded 
• Prevalence of hyper-digital citizens 
• Impact of inclusion/exclusion on access to digital services 

Digital skills: 

• Digital skill levels and confidence among citizens 
• Training and support needs 
• Awareness and use of both external and government guidance 

Disinformation and misinformation:

• Public awareness of misinformation and disinformation 
• How citizens distinguish between factual and false information 
• Sources of disinformation/misinformation encountered 
• Impact of disinformation/misinformation experienced by different groups 
• Effectiveness of interventions to counter disinformation

3. Rationale

This user engagement exercise aims to ensure that the new product we are developing provides significant value to users. By engaging with stakeholders, we aim to gather comprehensive insights into the evidence needs and identify any existing gaps. This includes evaluating the relevance and usage of the existing digital participation statistics. This evaluation will help us understand how well the current data meets the needs of our users and identify areas for improvement. By doing so, we can ensure that the collection of public engagement data is designed to address the most pertinent issues and provide valuable insights for policy decisions.

DSIT expects to prepare an invitation to tender shortly setting out its requirements for the project. Feedback received through the user engagement exercise will be used to inform the development of the project in 2025. This user engagement exercise will run until 31 January 2025. For any questions on the user engagement exercise, please contact: statistics@dsit.gov.uk.

4. How to respond to this user engagement exercise

Please complete the online questionnaire.

Alternatively, if you wish to submit information which cannot be provided via a web form or would prefer to respond via email, please send your response to statistics@dsit.gov.uk.

A copy of the questionnaire is included in the final section of this document below.

5. Engagement Questionnaire

The information we receive will allow us to make more informed decisions.

(m  = mandatory response)

5.1 Respondent Information

This section aims to understand who uses statistics from the Digital Section of the Participation Survey and other DSIT statistics and for what purpose they are used. Such information will help tailor future improvements in these statistics to their users.  

This questionnaire can be completed anonymously, and most respondent information fields are not mandatory. Some results from the user engagement exercise will be published as part of the response but no individuals will be identifiable in these published results.

Please see our privacy notice for further information.

Q1(m) - Are you aged 16 or over?

a. No, I am 15 years or younger.

b. Yes, I am 16 years or over.

If under 16 - Unfortunately, as you are aged under 16, you cannot take part in this survey. If you have any questions please email: statistics@dsit.gov.uk.

Q2 - Are you answering this survey on behalf of an organisation or a group?

a. No, I am responding as an individual.

b. Yes, I am responding on behalf of an organisation.

Q3 - (Only if 2 = b. Yes) Please provide the name of the organisation or group. If you are responding on a specific team within your organisation, please also provide your team’s name.

[Free Text]

Q4 - (Only if 2 = b. Yes) Which of the following best describes your organisation?

a. Academia and research

b. Business and Commercial

c. Government, including local government and public bodies

d. Think tanks

e. Voluntary, community and social enterprise

f. Other, please state [Free text]

Q5 - (Only if 2 = b. Yes) Which of the following options describe the sector(s) you are responding on behalf of?

a. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

b. Digital sector

c. Science

d. Technology

e. Cyber Security

f. Other, please state [Free text]

If you are happy to provide an email address as part of this consultation, please supply it here.

[Free text]

5.2 Methodology

The proposed new collection of DSIT public engagement data would be conducted annually, with a representative sample of adults aged 16 and over in the UK. This would enable outputs to be produced for ITL1 regions (devolved administrations and English regions).

Q6 - Does  the proposed frequency meet your needs?

a. Yes

b. No

Q7 - (Only if 6 = No) What changes would you recommend instead and why?

[Free text]

Q8 - Does the proposed geographic coverage, demographics and granularity meet your needs?

a. Yes

b. No

Q9* - (Only if 8 = No) What changes would you recommend instead?

[Free text]

Q10 - Which particular demographic breakdowns would you or your organisation want to see in the DSIT public engagement data?

[Free text]

5.3 Continuation of digital topics from the DCMS Participation Survey

DSIT proposes that the new collection of public engagement data is used to adopt and reform the digital elements of the DCMS Participation Survey, where there is demand for these to be continued from 2025/26.

We propose that the following topic areas are adopted and updated in order to ensure that they continue to meet user needs:

The following digital sector topics are currently included as sections in the DCMS Participation Survey: 

• Use of internet and smart devices 

• Digital or Online Skills training (including digital inclusion) 

• Data Security 

• Digital Identity and Methods of Identification 

• Use of data by government and businesses 

• Data Sharing and viewing content online 

• 5G awareness

Q11 - Which data items within the above sections of the DCMS Participation Survey do you or your organisation currently make use of?

[Free text]

Q12 - How do you use the data items identified in the previous question?

[Free text]

Q13 - What developments and/or reforms could be made to the sections listed above that would better meet your or your organisation’s statistical needs?

[Free text]

Q14 - What would be the impact for you or your organisation if these topics were not captured in the DSIT public engagement data?

[Free text]

5.4 Proposed topics

We propose that the DSIT public engagement data includes modules on the following topics within the DSIT policy portfolio:

• Technology adoption, barriers and enablers 

• Trust and acceptability 

• Emerging technologies 

• Digital inclusion and equality 

• Digital skills 

• Disinformation and misinformation

Q15 - How interested would you or your organisation be in statistical outputs relating to these topics?

	Very interested	Interested	Not interested	Don’t know
Technology adoption, barriers and enablers
Trust and acceptability
Emerging technologies
Digital inclusion and equality
Digital skills
Disinformation and misinformation

Q16 - What are the most crucial data points or insights related to these topic areas that the DSIT public engagement data should aim to capture?

[Free text]

Q17 - Are there any topics relating to DSIT policy areas not listed above that you or your organisation would like to be included in the DSIT public engagement data? If so, please specify how you or your organisation would make use of these.

[Free text]

Q18 - Are there any alternative methods that you think we could use to collect information on these topic areas?

[Free text]

5.5 Additional comments

Q19 - Do you have any final comments about anything related to this proposal to establish a new collection of DSIT public engagement data?

[Free text]