Digital Transformation Is Building the Bridge. Who Is Helping People Cross It?

A few years ago, I tried to teach my mum how to use a smartphone. What I thought would take a few minutes turned into weeks of explaining, reassuring, and troubleshooting. Every new feature seemed intimidating, and every mistake reinforced a fear that she might “break” something. At the time, I thought I was teaching her how to use technology. Looking back, I realise I was helping her build confidence.

That memory came back to me last week at NHS Confed. Among the many conversations about digital transformation, AI, and the future of healthcare, the topic that stayed with me most was digital inclusion. As the NHS continues its journey towards more digital ways of working, it made me think about a simple but important question: digital transformation may be building the bridge, but who is helping people cross it?

The question was reinforced during a digital literacy roadshow we sponsored for an NHS trust. One participant shared a story about helping an older woman learn how to use Google Maps. At first, she was nervous and lacked confidence. She worried about getting lost and did not trust herself to navigate using technology. Over time, she became comfortable using it independently. What struck me was the impact. For years, she had relied heavily on her son whenever she needed to travel somewhere unfamiliar. Learning to use Google Maps gave her greater independence, confidence, and freedom in her daily life.

It was a powerful reminder that digital inclusion is not really about technology. It is about empowerment.

Across the NHS, there is understandable excitement about new technologies and AI. Organisations are investing heavily in digital tools designed to improve productivity, efficiency, and patient outcomes. Yet we often overlook a critical factor: the people expected to use them.

The NHS has one of the most diverse workforces in the world. Some colleagues are highly digitally confident, while others are not. Some may require accessibility support, while others may be deaf, neurodiverse, or have different ways of interacting with technology. This is where digital inclusion and digital literacy become critical.

Digital inclusion is about ensuring technology works for everyone. It means designing systems that are accessible, intuitive, and usable regardless of an individual’s abilities or circumstances. For example, ensuring a system can be effectively used by members of the deaf community, incorporating accessibility features from the outset, or designing digital services that accommodate different learning and communication needs.

Digital literacy is different. It is not about turning everyone into technology experts. It is about removing the perception that technology requires specialist skills to use. More often than not, what people need is not advanced technical knowledge but confidence, guidance, and support. Just as my mum did not need to become a technology expert to use a smartphone, many people across our organisations simply need the confidence to engage, experiment, and trust themselves to use digital tools effectively.

Yet when we develop business cases for new systems, how often do we assess digital literacy with the same importance as technical requirements, interoperability, cyber security, or financial benefits? In my experience, not often enough. Digital literacy is often discussed after implementation. It becomes a training plan, a change management activity, or a mitigation action once the technology has already been selected.

This leads to what I believe is one of the most important questions facing digital transformation today: How do we ensure digital inclusion and digital literacy are treated as core outcomes of transformation programmes rather than mitigation actions after implementation?

If organisations assessed workforce digital confidence with the same rigour as technical readiness, adoption challenges could be identified much earlier. If accessibility and digital literacy were embedded into business cases from the outset, programmes would be better positioned to deliver sustainable benefits and long-term value.

The lesson is simple. Technology alone does not transform organisations. People do. As we continue investing in digital transformation and AI across health and care, success should not only be measured by system go-live dates and realised benefits. It should also be measured by how confidently and effectively people are able to use the technology.

Digital inclusion ensures technology works for everyone. Digital literacy gives people the confidence to use it. Together, they ensure that digital works for people rather than people working for digital.

Because building the bridge is only half the journey. The real measure of success is whether people can cross it. And if we get that right, we will not just deliver better technology. We will deliver better transformation.

Written by Geetika Karol