Digital Inclusion in Rural & Vulnerable Communities Phase 1

Digital exclusion remains a significant and persistent challenge across the UK, with approximately 10 million people unable to access online services due to a lack of internet connectivity, digital skills, or confidence. In rural and remote communities this challenge is compounded by poor infrastructure and geographic isolation. For households already identified as vulnerable the inability to receive timely communications from energy networks can have serious consequences.

Energy networks currently rely on a standard set of channels to communicate critical information such as planned outages, safety alerts, and emergency notifications. Letters go unread, door-knocking is costly and slow, SMS messages are widely distrusted, and digital channels by definition exclude the very households that need the most support. No single channel reliably reaches digitally excluded consumers at speed. This gap represents both a safeguarding risk for customers and a significant compliance and reputational challenge for networks operating under Ofgem’s consumer vulnerability obligations.

This project proposes a fundamentally new approach: the Message Beacon is a low-cost, physical, internet-free device distributed to households to alert customers that an important energy network message is available to be read. The notification signal is received via Bluetooth or NFC from a nearby mobile asset (such as a van, field engineer, or bin lorry), and is represented on the Message Beacon using a flashing LED. The customer taps the Message Beacon with an NFC-enabled smart device to display the energy network message. No internet connection is required in the home and no digital literacy is assumed. The Message Beacon brings the message to the person, rather than expecting the person to come to the channel.

This project aims to design and validate the Message Beacon concept establishing the foundational design, user research, and hardware groundwork that will enable a full real-world pilot in Phase 2.

Phase 1 will deliver four discrete, tangible outputs each meaningful in its own right, and each a direct input into the Phase 2 build:

• Front-of-House Initial Design: User journey maps covering how different household types will encounter and use the Beacon; initial design of the physical form factor, LED notification, NFC tap-to-read interaction, and message display; first-round prototype tested with participants; all design decisions documented with rationale grounded in user research.
• Back-of-House Initial Design: Research with network comms teams on message types, triggers, and operational workflow; user journey maps for network staff; initial interface designs for message creation, household management, and read-receipt reporting; analytics framework for Phase 2 evaluation.
• Technical End-to-End Flow: Full system architecture from message creation through transmission to NFC tap and display in the home; hardware and software brief with security model; assessment of NFC, BLE, and battery architecture; basis for the Phase 2 development brief.
• Prototype Plan and Experimental Builds: Hardware technical diagrams; sourced components; initial experimental Beacon devices demonstrating the core NFC, BLE, and LED interaction; manufacturing and cost assessment for Phase 2 production run of 30–50 units.

Technology Readiness Level (TRL)

• Start TRL: 2 (Technology concept formulated)The Message Beacon has been identified through prior research as the strongest candidate solution, but exists only as a concept. No integrated system design, user-tested interface, or functioning hardware has been produced.
• End TRL: 4 (Technology validated in laboratory environment)By the end of Phase 1, the core system architecture will have been designed and validated, experimental Beacon hardware will have been built and tested, and both the front-of-house and back-of-house interfaces will have been prototyped and tested with real users in controlled settings.