Digital inclusion in Cambridgeshire.

1. Digital inclusion in
Cambridgeshire
15th January 2014
Rebecca Morgan and Liz Stevenson

2. 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

3. Participation
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
% 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.)

4. 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

5. Evolution and innovation…
Access
ICT Learning Centres 20002002
CCN 2002-2011
CPSN 2011-2018
SFBB & SCCP 2013-2015
Skills
Beacon Council for
Social Inclusion through
ICT in 2003/4
UKOnline Centres
EU projects
Motivation
BVPI 157
E-Government
Digital by default

6. Key principle: Access
 Community Access Points
 45 locations
 CPSN infrastructure
 Wi-fi
 Mobile Devices




Migrant communities
Health visitors
Bring your own device
Re-cycling

7. 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

8. 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?

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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.

14. Interconnected elements
Infrastructure,
including data
Supply
Products &
content
Skills &
capability
Digital
Economy
Business
Demand
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

17. • 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?

18. Thank You