Digital services are already a central feature of our everyday lives. However, we may be just at the start of a journey on which more and more transactions and experiences will migrate from the physical to the digital world. Development of digital services in the coming decade has the potential to deliver innovative use cases of great benefit in important sectors like healthcare and education, as well as further transforming media and entertainment.

Adoption of new technology and engagement with digital services is not homogenous. Digital engagement can be constrained by a number of factors, including lack of infrastructure or poor quality connectivity, low digital skills, and low trust and confidence arising from concerns about online harms. In this paper, we look at the latter of these factors, and explain how new legislation and regulatory reforms present important opportunities to tackle barriers to confidence and trust.