Deloitte continues drive to close the digital divide as it makes new AI platform available to disability equality charity

• Deloitte will train employees at disability equality charity Scope to use its new Gen AI platform ‘PairD’;
• Scope will have free access to ‘PairD’, helping to level up their digital capabilities and use AI in a safe way;
• The initiative is part of Deloitte’s commitment to close the digital divide with plans to enable other charities to access the power of AI;
• Deloitte is also rolling out PairD to 75,000 of its people in Europe and the Middle East.

Deloitte is providing free access and support for its new Generative AI platform to a leading disability equality charity, in its continued commitment to close the digital divide.

Developed by Deloitte’s AI Institute, PairD is an internal Generative AI platform designed to help the firm’s people with day-to-day tasks, including drafting content, writing code and carrying out research safely and securely.

The tool is also able to create project plans, give project management best practice advice and suggest task prioritisation.

Following the roll-out of the platform to 75,000 of Deloitte’s people across Europe and the Middle East, disability equality charity Scope’s 800 employees will start to have access in the new year. The initiative will include teach-ins and ongoing support from Deloitte, with a particular focus on understanding the barriers for those who are not digitally native and have disabilities. This is the first step in Deloitte’s ambitions to help make access to AI more inclusive, with plans to take learnings from the work with Scope and help other charities in a similar way.

Richard Houston, CEO of Deloitte UK and Deloitte NSE, said: “Generative AI should be available and accessible to everyone and businesses like ours must ensure that the adoption of AI promotes social equality rather than exacerbating existing disparities.

“But it’s not only about access to technology – it’s access to the skills to use it that will really create opportunity to help close the digital divide.

“We want to increase the accessibility of our AI platform and help Scope make full use of PairD to benefit the charity and the people they support.”

Mark Hodgkinson, CEO of Scope, said: "Nearly one in four people in the UK are disabled, and we have to work together to build a society which is more inclusive and fair for all. Disabled people are often an afterthought in technological advancements, which is why we are pleased to be working with Deloitte to remove these barriers. It’s important that technology is used as a force for good for everyone and we know AI can be a great enabler for disabled people.”

Wider pledge to close the digital divide

The move to help make AI more accessible is part of Deloitte’s wider pledge to close the digital divide. Since January 2021, Deloitte has donated over 12,000 laptops to schools, charities and refugee groups to help tackle the digital skills gap and support people to overcome barriers to education and employment.

Deloitte has also recently opened applications and welcomed 30 charities and social enterprises to join the third cohort of Deloitte Digital Connect, a programme that helps charities scale their digital impact.

AI investment

PairD, which is being rolled out to Deloitte’s people in the UK as well parts of Europe and the Middle East, is part of Deloitte’s broader investment in analytics and AI. The firm also recently launched the Global Generative AI Market Incubator, in conjunction with Deloitte’s AI Institute, delivering early-stage proofs of concept and rapid prototypes in Generative AI.

Costi Perricos, Generative AI leader at Deloitte, said: “Our Generative AI platform is part of long-term AI investment plans, as we continue to explore the potential that this technology could offer our firm, our clients and wider society.

“A key focus for employers should be on how to use these new tools safely, so that they can be applied correctly and create value.

“As part of our mission to make access to AI more inclusive, we would like to work with Scope to explore how this can benefit underrepresented groups in our society, such as people with physical or mental disabilities.”
 

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Notes to editors:

Deloitte AI Institute

The Deloitte AI Institute helps organisations connect each dimension of the rapidly evolving AI ecosystem.

The institute leads conversations on applied AI innovation across industries, with cutting-edge insights.

Through a network composed of academic research groups, start-ups, entrepreneurs, innovators and product leaders, the institute addresses key areas of AI including risks, policies, ethics, future of work and talent, and applied AI use cases.

Globally Deloitte is also running a generative AI fluency programme, which it expects to roll out to practitioners worldwide.

About Scope

Scope is the disability equality charity in England and Wales. For more information see www.scope.org.uk. For more information about how Scope supports businesses with disability inclusion go to https://business.scope.org.uk/

About Deloitte

Deloitte in Jersey delivers audit, accountancy, tax, financial and risk advisory and business consulting and transformation services to many leading businesses in the jurisdiction and beyond. Deloitte spans more than 150 countries and territories.

In this press release references to “Deloitte” are references to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (“DTTL”), a UK private company limited by guarantee, and its network of member firms, each of which is a legally separate and independent entity. Please see deloitte.com/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of DTTL and its member firms.
Deloitte LLP is a subsidiary of Deloitte NSE LLP, which is a member firm of DTTL, and is among the UK's leading professional services firms.
The information contained in this press release is correct at the time of going to press.
For more information, please visit www.deloitte.co.uk.

Media Contact:
Imran Choudhury
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01727 88 4004
ichoudhury@deloitte.co.uk