Six aims and objectives: what the Foundation was set up to do
The Foundation's six aims and objectives, in its own words, and how each one will show up in the work rather than only on the page.
Every organisation says it wants to do good. The trustees of the Digital Equity & Innovation Foundation wrote down, in six sentences, exactly what that means here. This article sets them out and says how each one will show up in the work rather than only on the page.
They are worth reading in full, because they are narrower than most mission statements and that is deliberate. An objective you cannot fail is not an objective.
1. Digital literacy
To promote digital literacy and ensure individuals, especially in marginalised communities, gain fundamental digital skills for education, employment and daily life.
In practice this is the first four sessions at every Community Connect Hub and the first two weeks of every Digital Futures cohort. It is the least glamorous part of the work and the part that determines whether anything else lands. Someone who cannot confidently use a keyboard cannot take a course, apply for work online, or check what their government is doing.
2. Educational equality
To reduce educational inequality by targeting rural areas, low-income groups and disadvantaged populations, ensuring free and equitable access to digital learning resources.
In practice this decides where we put things. Hubs go into markets and community centres, not business districts. Every course is free, with no registration fee and no hidden device requirement. Targeting is a choice with a cost: it means turning down easier sites with better power and better roads, because the people we exist for are not there.
3. Monitoring and evaluation
To monitor and evaluate impact by using data-driven approaches to measure learning outcomes and improve programme effectiveness.
In practice this means targets published before the work begins and results published against them, including the ones we miss. It also means the AI for Public Good Fellowship builds evidence inside government rather than about it. Organisations that only measure after the fact tend to discover they succeeded.
4. Policy advocacy
To advocate for policy change by collaborating with governments, institutions and stakeholders to integrate digital education into national and regional education frameworks.
In practice this is research, public briefs and partnerships with ministries and agencies. A hub serves a few thousand people. A change to how a state ministry plans school connectivity serves considerably more. Both matter, and only one of them scales.
5. Tools, devices and connectivity
To foster development in education by supporting the adoption of cutting-edge digital tools, AI-driven learning and interactive platforms that enhance free education delivery, and to provide devices and connectivity support through the distribution of laptops, tablets and free internet access to learners in need.
In practice this is shared laptops and free connectivity at every hub, with device distribution as funding allows. The phrase “cutting-edge” deserves care. New tools earn their place by working on the devices and bandwidth people actually have, not by being new.
6. Free digital skills training
To create a world where every individual, regardless of socio-economic background, has the opportunity to thrive in the digital age through equitable access to quality education and technological empowerment: free digital skills training and workshops in basic computer skills, digital marketing, web development, data analytics, programming, digital finance and cybersecurity.
In practice this is the Digital Futures Skills Programme, Women in Digital Trade and Safe Online Nigeria. The list of subjects is specific because vagueness here is how training programmes drift towards whatever is easiest to deliver.
The aim behind them
All six serve one aim: to promote inclusive development by expanding access to skills, knowledge and opportunities that enable individuals and communities, particularly youth and women in underserved areas, to participate fully in education, employment and the modern economy.
The Foundation also seeks to strengthen communities by fostering capacity, innovation, ethical leadership and sustainable development opportunities.
How to hold us to them
Each programme page lists which of the six objectives that programme serves. Our published targets for 2027 map onto them. When we report results, we will report them against these six and not against a more flattering set chosen afterwards.
If a programme cannot be traced back to one of these objectives, it is a sign we have drifted, and we would rather hear that from you early than discover it late.
