Rebecca Morgan and Liz Stevenson

15th January 2014

Digital inclusion in Cambridgeshire

Background

Over a decade of experience working on digital

inclusion initiatives

Externally funded by UK and EU funding streams

State of play in Cambridgeshire

Three key principles:

Access

Skills

Motivation

Participation

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100 % not online

Next generation user

• Entering long tail of adoption, 4

million households without

Internet access:

– 59% said they 'did not need it‘

– 20% indicated lack of computer

skills

– 12% equipment & access costs.

• Growing pattern of access

‘anywhere at anytime’.

• New, growing digital divide

between next generation users

and those who are not

Source: Office for National Statistics “Internet Access - Households and Individuals, 2013” (UK households

from 1998 to 2004. Great Britain households from 2005 to 2013.)

Digital and social exclusion • Map exclusion ‘as is’ using

ESD Toolkit heat map data

• Repeat for SFBB roll-out to

identify remaining hot spots

• Digital inclusion activities

targeted at excluded

demographics – elderly,

disability, low income.

• Place-based approaches

Source: ESD-Toolkit ‘Digital and Social Exclusion’ 2012

Access ICT Learning Centres 2000-

2002

CCN 2002-2011

CPSN 2011-2018

SFBB & SCCP 2013-2015

Motivation BVPI 157

E-Government

Digital by default

Skills Beacon Council for

Social Inclusion through ICT in 2003/4

UKOnline Centres

EU projects

Evolution and innovation…

Key principle: Access

Community Access Points

45 locations

CPSN infrastructure

Wi-fi

Mobile Devices

Migrant communities

Health visitors

Bring your own device

Re-cycling

Key principle: Skills

• Embedding digital inclusion learning into a variety of activities

• Empowering volunteers in the role of ‘digital champions’

• Individual skill development has built community capacity

Key principle: Motivation • Identifying the ‘hook’ that gets people involved

• What’s in it for me?

• Developing ownership of services within communities

• Role of volunteers, advocates and community

groups

• Raising awareness of issues and helping develop new

approaches

• Getting ‘buy-in’ from other services

• Building on existing communities of interest

• What’s going on already?

Case Study 1:

Community Access Points Broadband connected network

established in 2001/2

Worked with District and Parish

councils to identify location and need

Developed role of volunteer – digital

tutor/champion to aid sustainability

Embedded activities and projects with

a digital content/theme

Gets communities together – limits

isolation

Provides building block for other

activity

Now a hub for many of the other

digital projects we are involved in

Case Study 2: Cambridgeshire Community

Archive Network www.ccan.co.uk

• A network of 32 digital community history groups, originally funded by HLF

in 2005/6

• Supporting skills to identify local history information and upload on website

• Self sustaining – own volunteer steering group, technical team and PR

• Self funding – each group pays £100 p.a. for web hosting and support

• A hook for developing other activity and leverage for other funding

opportunities

• Now working as part of EU Interreg IVA project on the Great War

• www.great-war.ccan.co.uk

• Volunteers – community capacity building and links to schools - a hook to

hang digital inclusion on

Case Study 3:

Seniors Network Support (SeNS)

Using technology to develop & support networks for

older people

tackling isolation

encouraging active ageing

Progression – Kindle/Tablet/social media

Working with sheltered housing organisations

Developing other interest groups – flower arranging,

days out, local history

Online book reviews and working with other Read IT

groups

Case Study 4:

Talk About Cambridgeshire

Social media sites

Working with communities to set up websites

Developing skills and knowledge

Providing a focus for community activities

Generating activities

Leading on to e-democracy

Shape Your Place

Interacting with service providers

A digital future

• Consolidating activities to deliver the interconnected elements for a digital future.

• Costs and benefits are over a broad range of both public and private organisations.

• Digital exclusion elsewhere in county matters to Cambridge’s economic growth and social capital.

Interconnected elements

Digital Economy

Supply

Infrastructure, including data

Products & content

Skills & capability

Demand

Business

Households

Public service

• Increase the availability of fast

connectivity

• Encourage SMEs to optimise

their use of digital technologies

• Support those not (or rarely)

online & increase digital literacy

• Increase take-up of faster

connections

• Establish Cambridgeshire as a

place to test and innovate

• What digital opportunities

can enhance participation:

social media, future

Internet, mobile… ?

• What cross-sector

solutions – bridging the

built environment, ICT,

energy, transport &

mobility and big data – can

be created for sustainable,

digital places?

Thank You