Connecting Scotland Digital Inclusion Fund

The Connecting Scotland Digital Inclusion Fund supports projects that tackle digital exclusion in Scotland. The Scottish Government administers and manages the Fund, which is deploying funding from the UK Government’s Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund.

£442,327 of the Connecting Scotland Digital Inclusion Fund is being distributed via this call for applications.

Applicants may request funding between £10,000 and £50,000, depending on the scope and nature of the proposed project.

A separate £321,692 of funding, also from the UK Government's Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund, is to be distributed via the Scottish Government’s CivTech Round 11 challenge. This pot of funding, totalling over £1 million when including additional Scottish Government funding, falls outwith the process detailed here. Applicants interested in pursuing this opportunity should consult the link above.

Funding is available under the following two categories:

• Category 1: £321,692: Resource support for projects that replicate or scale best practice in digital inclusion interventions or deliver innovative approaches to tackling digital exclusion

• Category 2: £120,635: Capital investment in equipment and assets to support delivery of digital inclusion activities (e.g. laptops, devices, software).

Applicants must state which category (or categories) they are applying for, and applications can combine Categories 1 and 2.

Your project must address digital exclusion in Scotland and meet at least one of the following objectives:

• support innovative initiatives to increase digital participation, producing new insights on what works;

• support best practice with the ambition to scale and replicate successful digital inclusion activities across Scotland.

Examples of innovative proposals in this context include a:

• brand-new idea that has never been tried before

• project that has been implemented before but not in the same way i.e. novel and uncertain aspects

• project that has been implemented before but to collect new evidence

• project to develop a new digital inclusion tool

• project to gather new evidence to inform an existing tool or framework

Examples of proposals to support best practice in this context include:

• Replicating a project that has previously been completed successfully.

• A project that has been completed successfully in one area but will now be expanded further, for example, by targeting new demographic groups or expanding to a new area.

• A new project that will implement or expand the use of an existing tool or framework.

Projects should also target at least one of these demographic groups:

• Low-income households

• Older people (60+)

• Disabled people

• People seeking employment

• Gypsy/Traveller community

• People in insecure housing

• People experiencing homelessness

• Rural and island communities

• Refugees

• People who speak English as an additional language

In addition, applicants should consider how their proposal supports the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government 2025–26 priorities:

• Eradicating child poverty

• Growing the economy

• Tackling the climate emergency

• Delivering high-quality, sustainable public services.

Applicants should also consider how their proposal supports delivery of the Scottish Government’s wider initiatives, including but not limited to:

• Best Start, Bright Futures: Tackling Child Poverty

• Scotland’s Digital Strategy

• Scotland’s Artificial Intelligence Strategy

• The National Plan for Scotland’s Islands

Applicants must clearly set out how their proposals will contribute to wider Scottish Government priorities.

The Scottish Government recognises that not all viable proposals will contribute to each of the Programme for Government priorities and all of the strategies detailed above. Applicants are therefore not expected to address all priorities and strategies but must clearly explain how their proposal aligns with one or more.

The Scottish Government is supporting the establishment of the Digital Inclusion Alliance (DIA), a cross-sectoral initiative aimed at tackling digital exclusion. Findings from this grant can inform the DIA’s future strategy by highlighting effective approaches, identifying gaps, and providing evidence of what works to reduce digital inequalities.

What funding can be used for

• Delivery of digital inclusion activities

• Staff and volunteer costs required to deliver the project

• Equipment such as laptops, tablets, and software licences

• Learning materials and training resources

• Evaluation and monitoring

What funding cannot be used for

• Ongoing or existing projects already in receipt of funding

• Installation of broadband or telecommunications infrastructure

• General overhead costs beyond 20% of fixed labour costs

• Political activity or campaigning

• Any value added tax (VAT) reclaimable by the grantee

• Costs not directly supporting the grant purpose

• Any employment costs arising from the grantee’s legal obligations to its employees, for example any cost that can be recovered from HMRC including, but not limited to, parental leave, sick leave, redundancy

• Profit earned by a subsidiary or related enterprise or person(s) in providing service or materials for the grant purpose

• Directors’ dividends

• Staff relocation costs

• Insurance costs (which is the responsibility of the grantee)

When we receive your application we will acknowledge receipt (via Find a Grant) and assess your application by the attached assessment framework.

If your application is successful, you will receive a grant offer letter. 

You will also be required to submit a final project report including:

• Outcomes achieved.

• Evidence of impact.

• A breakdown of how funding was spent.