Digital inclusion - making it happen
Tutor:
Sue Brown
This one day course addresses the importance of digital inclusion to equable service access, tackling the needs of excluded groups and service cost reduction, and the strategies to make it a reality.
It will also explore the impact of government agendas and best practice for social exclusion/digital inclusion on their service delivery mechanisms as well as the associated opportunities.
At a time of continuous and severe budget pressure, the lack of access to technology and the capability to use it affects large numbers of citizens. This limits the potential to deliver customer services in the most cost-effective manner i.e. electronically.
17 million people in the UK still do not use computers and the Internet
( DCLG 2008).
OFCOM has found that 15% of people are ‘involuntarily excluded’ from
communications services due predominantly to cost.
Individuals who had no formal qualifications, were least likely to have an Internet connection in their home at 56 per cent. (ONS, August 2008)
It is estimated that 79% of those on means tested benefit lack practical ICT
skills. This indicates that many of those who suffer specific social disadvantages also lack the capability to engage with technology.
Inclusive and affordable access to digital technologies and services will also
assist people on lower incomes to access new employment and skills opportunities.
Those attending will discover :
- what digital inclusion actually means in the context of social exclusion
- ways to identify which parts of their community might be socially excluded as a result of their lack of digital skills and/or access;
- what they might be able to do to improve opportunities to access digital technologies;
- how to articulate the business case for funding and partnership approaches;
- techniques and success factors for successful strategy development, planning and engagement;
- how to gauge what might and might not work.
The course will include interactive sessions to help delegates develop their own SMART action plans.
Course Content
Overview and context
- Digital inclusion and its relationship to social exclusion
- Why does digital inclusion matter?
- Recent research findings
- Perceptions of digital exclusion
- The extent to which it is being successfully tackled
- The role of ICT in combating social exclusion and deprivation
- National Indicators
- Other emerging key issues
- Opportunities and possibilities
Establishing and understanding the needs of excluded individuals, groups and communities
- Models for categorising excluded groups
- Consultation and engagement - may work and what might not
- Techniques
- Establishing the opportunities to adapt services for these groups through the use of technology
Developing a vision
- Scope
- Engagement
- A blueprint
- The choice of planning timeframes
The current position
- What technology do you have, where and who uses it?
- Who uses your online services?
- Measurement and comparison
- What are the learning needs of your organisation and potential partners
Developing strategies and polices for digital inclusion.
- Broad categories of approach
- Provision of technology and infrastructure access
- Enablement through skills development
- Viability and risks of a mixed approach
- Available toolkits
Making a Business Case
- Stakeholder identification and analysis
- Funding issues
- Building in sustainability
- Direct and indirect benefits
- Planning for interim benefits and quick wins
- Obtaining buy-in
Success Factors for Implementation
- Developing partnerships, externally and internally to take forward projects
- Understanding the capabilities, key objectives and culture of all contributors
- Programme and project governance and leadership
- Measurement of benefits and progress including National Indicators
- Embedding social and digital inclusion in other strategies, policies and processes
- Synergy and alignment with other strategies and programmes
- What can we learn from best practice
Next Steps
- Preliminary work on SMART action plans
- Associated opportunities, risks and challenges in delegates' own organisations and localities
- Local critical success factors
During the course reference will be made to UK case studies.
Who should attend?
- Directors and Service Heads especially those responsible for working in Adult Services, Children's Services, Policy and ICT
- Service partners and stakeholders in current or potential future partnerships. .
- Project managers
- Senior front line staff working with social inclusion.
- Anyone developing policies and strategies for social inclusion or regeneration.
Tutor
Sue Brown is a Local Improvement Advisor (LIA) appointed by DCLG. Specialising in Digital Inclusion and Data Sharing Sue provides support and advice to local authorities in using technology and data effectively to address local service delivery priorities and to meet the challenges within the new performance management framework. Sue is currently supporting a local authority and an LSP to develop their strategic approach to improving digital inclusion
Sue has over 35 years public sector experience in running customer focused, frontline services, developing corporate policies and representing users in the worldwide information society. As an independent Knowledge Management consultant, Sue was a project manager in the transition team to establish the new Equality and Human Rights Commission.
The in-house option to meet your particular needs
While this course is being run as a public event it can also be adapted, cut down or extended to become a tailored workshop or briefing for an individual authority or for a group of civic or local partner organisations. This could be aimed at the top-team, key elected members, managers, policy officers and representatives from individual or umbrella community groups. Such an event might focus on local issues such as the development or review of a local digital inclusion strategy.
There are several possible variations such as :
- a briefing of up to hafd a day in duration
- a single one day workshop;
- a pair of workshops with a gap in between;
- an internal workshop to develop a draft strategy followed by another event involving partner organisations.
Please contact enquiries@socitmlearning.co.uk or call 0845 241 2773 regarding the range and costs of the variants of this course which are suitable as in-house events or events for groups of organisations within a locality.
Pre-Event Activities
Delegates will be asked to complete a short questionnaire regarding their learning objectives and an indication of their local issues prior to the course to enable to tutor to plan the day in detail.
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