Protecting Minority Ethnic Communities Online (PRIME)
Lead Research Organisation:
CRANFIELD UNIVERSITY
Department Name: Faculty of Engineering & Applied Science
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Publications
Balta-Ozkan, N
(2025)
Energy digitalisation: towards more equitable outcomes for minority ethnic communities
| Description | The research found that while some individuals from minority ethnic communities experience many positive impacts from digitalisation, others faced formidable barriers in engaging with key services, such as energy, housing and health. Among the challenges faced are lack of ability to afford digital devices and internet access; limited proficiency in English as well as limited digital skills. Concerns around privacy were also identified, with many individuals reporting fear of being discriminated against or other ways in which the information they supplied might be misused. While organisations within each of the three sectors of energy, health and housing vary in terms of readiness, digital maturity and capacity, and experience diverse drivers, there are clear benefits for consumers, service users, patients and tenants to benefit from digital advancements. However, this cannot take the place of human interaction among some individuals, in some circumstances. Access to adequate digital devices and internet connectivity, as well as digital upskilling across all sections of the population, including minority ethnic communities, is necessary to optimise the full potential of digitalisation. Workforce training is also required to ensure that adequate support is available to support end-users in transitioning to digital services. Standards and levels for services should be established based on the lived experiences of minority ethnic communities. Genuine participation in digital services cannot be achieved without design and implementation which ensures equitable access, experiences and outcomes for minority ethnic communities. Currently, there is little regulatory oversight over a fair and equitable transition to digital services in all three sectors. We identified some opportunities for cross-sector sharing of best practice. |
| Exploitation Route | The policy briefings can be used by policy-makers and regulators to raise awareness among service providers in health, housing and energy sectors of the need for more attention to the design of digital services to create safer, more accessible services and to ensure more equitable outcomes. Policy-makers can also help ensure that alternatives to digitalisation continue to be available for individuals who are unable or reluctant to use digital services due to digital poverty, limited levels of proficiency in English, (digital) literacy, disability or fear of discrimination. The Minoritised Ethnic People's Code of Practice can be used to help policy-makers, service providers and designers of digital services to develop more ethical and trustworthy services. The videos can be used by individuals from minoritised ethnic communities and organisations which work with them to increase their awareness of types of online harm which have emerged from the research conducted, the action they can take and sources of support. By classifying regions more effectively, GOAAT enables policymakers to make informed decisions based on insights on poverty, housing, energy, health, and ethnicity. The personas created by the PersonaCreator can be used to help inform providers and designers of digital services to design digital services which take into account end-users' fear or experience of various online harms, discrimination and bias by developing more sensitive data collection processes and privacy-enhancing technologies. The design guidelines can be used by developers and managers of digital services to assess if these services meet the requirements of ME communities. These can also be used as a checklist to assess already existing services or during planning and design of new digital services. The demonstrator app, IRESHA Sharecode, integrates Privacy Enhancing Technologies which can enable minoritised ethnic individuals to provide the least amount of sensitive eligibility data while preserving privacy but still conveying eligibility information to social housing providers. The app can also be used by social housing providers to help ensure more equitable access to social housing through more sensitive data collection processes. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Energy Healthcare Government Democracy and Justice |
| Description | We have used our findings to produce a set of policy briefs for policy-makers in energy housing and health as well as one which covers all three sectors. Some early signs are emerging that these policy briefings have been used. For instance, policy-makers in Scottish Government and the NHS have informed us that they have shared the policy briefings with others. Through a process of co-production and co-design, we have used our findings to work with minority ethnic communities to produce The Code of Practice for Minoritised People. We have been informed by the Equality and Human Rights Commission that they will use the Code of Practice to review the Digital Inclusion policy of the Welsh Government. The Code has also been uploaded as a resource for promoting digital inclusion by Audit Scotland. The three videos we have produced have been used to raise awareness of individuals from diverse minority ethnic communities and the community organisations on the nature and type of online harms that have emerged in our research, the actions that can be taken and sources of support. The videos have been produced in eight languages: English, Cantonese Gujarati, Hindi, Mandarin, Punjabi, Somali, and Urdu. Findings relating to the (digital) poverty experienced by some minority ethnic communities have led to the development of the GOAAT (GNN Output Area Analysis Tool) which uses state -of-the-art Graph Neural Networks (GNNs), to automatically account for geographic adjacency and improve socio-economic insights by more effective regional classification. These classifications can help us provide better regional categories to help us understand patterns of disadvantage in terms of health, housing, energy, occupation by ethnicity. Findings on how people from these communities feel or experience various online harms, discrimination and bias while using digital services related to health, energy and social housing have been used to develop the Persona Creator app which uses machine learning techniques on survey data to create personas of people from minority ethnic communities. These personas can be used to raise awareness among service providers of the types of concerns that individuals from minority ethnic communities face in engaging with digital services. Findings relating to the privacy concerns of minority ethnic communities have been used to produce the demonstrator app, IRESHA Sharecode, which integrates Privacy Enhancing Technologies. The app can enable minority ethnic individuals to provide the least amount of sensitive eligibility data while preserving privacy but still conveying eligibility information to social housing providers. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2024 |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Energy,Healthcare |
| Impact Types | Societal Policy & public services |
| Description | A data-driven framework for analysing technological energy injustice in online service access among minority ethnic communities |
| Geographic Reach | Europe |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | The event instigated sharing of knowledge and modelling practices at the intersection of complex systems and energy research |
| URL | https://urbanheatsystems.leeds.ac.uk/energy-complexity-conference-2025/ |
| Description | Energy Sector Service Provider Perspectives, PRIME Project Energy workshop, London, 12/7/2023 |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or improved professional practice |
| Impact | Suppliers' spatial profiling of customers using Experian data may lead to households being penalised for the postcodes they live in. The discussions at the workshop with the presence of the regulator and other intermediary organisations highlighted these risks. |
| URL | https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/protecting-minority-ethnic-communities-online-prime-workshop-tickets-... |
| Description | Health sector PRIME workshop (19/9/2023) |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or improved professional practice |
| Impact | The discussions at the workshop highlighted the following points: Digitisation is a means of communication al data is crucial for enhancing healthcare services, optimizing patient care, and fostering innovation within the health sector. However, there exists a significant gap in understanding the extent and ways in which Minority Ethnic (ME) communities engage with current digital health services, leading to an information void in this field. Healthcare providers often do not collect this data or have patchy data and closing this data gap is essential to ensure equitable and effective healthcare delivery for all communities. Healthcare providers and institutions often differ in their approaches to assisting patients with limited English language proficiency. The establishment of standards or best practice guidelines by relevant healthcare authorities can play a pivotal role in ensuring that Minority Ethnic (ME) communities do not face disparities in healthcare access. |
| URL | https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/protecting-minority-ethnic-communities-online-prime-health-workshop-t... |
| Description | PRIME Cross-sector Workshop: Housing, energy & health (5/10/2023) |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or improved professional practice |
| Impact | One of the key findings was the need to collect ethnicity-specific data as there are vast differences in the available datasets across energy, health and housing sectors. This highlights the need for designing data systems with the needs of the most vulnerable populations in mind so that they are fit for all. Digitisation can significantly enhance everyday decision-making and contribute to best practices when coupled with sector-specific ethnicity-disaggregated data. |
| URL | https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/protecting-minority-ethnic-communities-onlineprimecross-sectoral-work... |
| Description | Response to Ofgem consultation on Consumer Standards - Statutory Consultation (23 August 2023) |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| Impact | My response highlighted two key points: 1. Supplier contact ease needs to ensure the use of different communication methods with the customers Our assessment and review of the energy suppliers and DNOs' websites revealed different practices for the recognition of language as a criteria to be included in the Priority Services Register. As some minority ethnic communities don't have good speaking or writing skills in English, these selective practices by the companies leads to inequalities in access to relevant advice and help for energy use and bills. 2. Energy sector digitisation is part of the wider societal digital skills journey The 'digital exclusion' report by the House of Lords (2023) notes that 2.4 million households do not have the skills to complete a simple online task. As customer participation is essential to ensure the cost-effective operation of a low carbon grid, my response suggested all regulators working together to agree on the components of a 'societal skills for a digital journey' training programme that can be launched by the government. With increasing digitisation of many public and regulated services, many households may be left behind. |
| URL | https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/consumer-standards-statutory-consultation |
| Description | Invitation to act as a member of the steering board |
| Organisation | Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) |
| Department | Scottish and Southern Energy Power Distribution Limited |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | I have been invited to join the project steering board for a proposal led by SSEN to analyse the likelihood of household vulnerability and adoption of low carbon technologies in Scotland. The proposal is submitted to Ofgem's Strategic Innovation Fund. |
| Collaborator Contribution | My role will be to provide expert advice to the project team. |
| Impact | The proposal has been submitted. We are waiting to hear the project outcome. |
| Start Year | 2025 |
| Description | Meeting with Head of vehicles stats team at DfT |
| Organisation | Department of Transport |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | I held a meeting with the vehicles stats team at DfT with a view to identify data sources that we could use to analyse whether ethnicity is impacting the adoption of electric vehicles. This has informed us to make a data access request to DVLA to access vehicle registry database. |
| Collaborator Contribution | We have made our data request and waiting to receive the outcome. |
| Impact | We have made our data request and waiting to receive the outcome. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Meeting with industry practitioners on ethnicity and energy transitions |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I attended a meeting (9/7/2024) with two experts from CGI and Scottish Southern Electric (SSE) to discuss the lack of understanding on the participation of minority ethnic households in demand flexibility and other energy saving programmes. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Protecting Minority Ethnic Communities Online: Presentation to Tower Hamlets GP Care Group CIC |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Prof Ozkan gave a presentation to Tower Hamlets GP Care Group CIC on 21/11/2022. There were over 10 general practice managers attending the meeting. In my talk, I emphasized what PRIME project was aiming to do, which included advancing understanding the challenges they have been experiencing through increased digitalisation of services. This sparked discussions about how the PRIME project outputs can contribute to addressing these challenges and informing policy making. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | meeting with Data Communications Company |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | I attended a meeting with DCC to inform them of PRIME project objectives and research programme and discuss how we could have access to smart metering data to see if ethnicity has an impact on different digital energy services. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |