In the latest Lloyds Bank Business Digital Index published in October last year, research showed that 1.44m SMEs do not have basic digital skills, 49% of small businesses do not have a website and 75% of SMEs invest no money in improving digital skills for themselves or their employees. Also worryingly, 69% of all businesses admit they need to improve their cyber security. Much more needs to be done to understand why small businesses do not yet see the real benefits of adopting digital. Is it more about changing mindsets and motivating “time poor” small businesses rather than classifying them as lacking basic digital skills?

Encouragingly, there is a growing commitment from some of the UK’s largest businesses and Digital Leaders partners to try and figure out market solutions to help small businesses adopt digital. Google have just launched a Summer of Skills programme in coastal towns across the UK and pledged to offer everyone in the UK 5 hours of digital skills training free of charge through their Digital Garage programme. Also, Lloyds Bank is to give face-to-face digital skills training to 2.5 million individuals, small and medium businesses and charities by 2020. Do It Digital is campaigning and working closely with several partners including Nominet to target 1 million small businesses to become more digitally active in 2017. And the Good Things Foundation are helping 10,000 small businesses to improve their digital skills through various projects.

Joining up activity and ambition

Working at Digital Leaders has provided me with the opportunity to work closely with several government departments, large corporates and other key stakeholders on the digital skills agenda. As highlighted earlier, there are some excellent digital skills programmes out there but it would be fair to say not enough thought has been given on how best to engage local stakeholders with whom to collaborate with and to help identify those regional small businesses that need most help. There are simply too many silos out there and more needs to be done to join up this activity and shared ambition.

Positioning Growth hubs at the centre

It is recognised that the network of the 39 regional Growth Hubs in the UK provides a valued business support function to small businesses. They attract experienced, smart and passionate people and many have run, or are running, small businesses themselves. They design, develop and deliver innovative world class support programmes to help small businesses grow and prosper. However, there are areas in which they can all improve – they need to talk to each other more and share best practice, be more collaborative, and most importantly, shout from the rooftops the additional value that Growth Hubs bring both individually and collectively as a regional and national network in order to engage with SMEs. I am continually amazed when I speak to senior executives from large UK organisations who have little or no knowledge of the role of the regional Growth Hub. It is very easy to get their attention when you start by saying the Growth Hub Network provides access to a sizeable percentage of the 5.4 million UK businesses.

The government must also do more to help position Growth Hubs at the centre and ensure that any future pilot programme or policy involving digital and small business has some level of input and involvement from Growth Hubs.

Developing a National Digital Skills hub

Over the last few months I have been speaking to government, academia, corporates and other key stakeholders around supporting a number of regional SME Digital Skills Test and Learn Pilots that could help form future policy thinking on what works best to encourage and enable a small business to adopt digital. In my view, it will be important to ensure that Growth Hubs will be around the table shaping the various Test and Learn Pilots and providing input to the potential of developing a regional Digital Skills Hub that could be scaled through the Growth Hub Network. Growth Hubs are up for the challenge – at the recent Digital Leaders LEP/Growth Hub Digital Group, we received strong expressions of interest from eight Growth Hubs who wished to be involved in any regional pilots.

Digital Leaders will shortly be forming a small steering group of Growth Hubs in order to start shaping and designing some exciting and innovative digital skills pilots in collaboration with government and corporates. Interested in contributing to the challenge? Contact gary.coyle@digileaders.com

A Digital Skills Hub available in every Growth Hub region is the ambition, and can be achieved if Growth Hubs are at the centre of designing and collaborating with existing and future innovative Digital Skills Programmes.

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With the uncertainty of European funding post BREXIT and no guarantees of current funding from the UK Government to continue beyond 2017/18, the topic and discussion for the day – “Growth hub sustainability” was of real interest to invited Growth hub and interested stakeholders present.

At the quarterly meeting held at Buckinghamshire Business First Growth hub in Saunderton, the Digital Leaders LEP Group came together to share best practice, learn from each other and also interact with those that shared their insights on sustaining Growth hubs over the longer term.

It was encouraging that many Growth hubs present have already set up and are testing various sustainable programmes that will ensure they become less dependent on external Government, European funding as they develop their own revenue streams.

Please find the minutes and presentations from the meeting below.

Presentation by: Buckinghamshire Business First

Presentation by: EMSI

Presentation by: Cobweb Information

Presentation by: Aston University, Enterprise Research Centre

Presentation by: Nominet

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• Over two thirds of those offline say nothing will motivate them to use the internet
• Nearly three-quarters of offline consumers don’t believe they’ll save money by being online
• 30% of people can’t manage financially without their regular income for more than a month

The latest Lloyds Bank UK Consumer Digital Index reveals that 11.5 million people in the UK do not have Basic Digital Skills. The report also shows that just under one in ten adults (9%) don’t use the internet at all and this group is less engaged and less likely to be persuaded to get online, due to a lack of motivation, than ever before.

The Basic Digital Skills measure, designed by Doteveryone to understand the level of digital skills amongst UK adults, shows that within 12 months, 1.1 million people gained Basic Digital Skills, which is an encouraging improvement. However, there are still 11.5 million people not making the most out of the internet, such as creating content or shopping online. Age is also a determining factor with only 49% of those aged 65+ having Basic Digital Skills, compared to 97% of 15 to 24 year olds.

Nick Williams, Managing Director, Consumer and Commercial Digital at Lloyds Banking Group, said: “This year’s Index shows a positive improvement in financial and digital capability with 1.1m more people gaining Basic Digital Skills and 332,000 people having improved their financial capability. It’s in the right direction but the rate of change is too slow compared to the pace of technology evolution and focused intervention is now needed.

“We know that 77% of people who are offline are unaware of where to go for digital skills support. Organisations across public and private sectors must focus on one-to-one interactions. Offline customers are harder to reach but they do show up in the community and this is where trusted faces in local places can really help. That’s why we have committed, as part of our Helping Britain Prosper Plan, to provide face-to-face digital skills training (including online banking) for 2.5 million individuals, small businesses and charities by 2020.”

The Index finds that the last 9% who are not yet online are far less likely to be interested or persuaded of the benefits the internet can offer.  As with those lacking Basic Digital Skills, it is the older generation who are even harder to convince.

Over half (51%) of people who are not using the internet have no interest in getting online and this rises to 60% for those aged 60+.  Also, more than two-thirds (68%) of those offline say nothing will motivate them to go online – and again this is higher for those aged 60+ (74%). This is a significant increase of nearly 25% since 2016. The Index highlights that nearly three-quarters (73%) of those offline do not believe they can save money using the internet, despite the report showing the savings that can be made. 76% of those aged 60+ also said they did not see how they could save money online.

Worryingly, nearly half (43%) of people do not know there is free support, such as local libraries or Learn My Way courses, that can help them get online and develop their digital skills. This rises to 77% amongst those who are offline. For those wanting to learn to use the internet, the more informal routes prove to be the most popular, with nearly half (45%) of people going to friends or family for help.

When considering financial resilience, the Index finds that 30% (14.8 million) people could not manage financially for more than a month without their regular income and those who are offline are more likely to struggle immediately (22% offline compared to 15% who are online).

Despite acknowledging the hardships they may face, many people are failing to take action to ensure they have a financial safety net in place. In fact, a separate piece of research¹ shows that for many, taking out life or critical illness cover falls lower down the priority list than having access to an internet connection. Eight in ten (81%) Brits consider internet connection as essential and almost three quarters (72%) see a mobile phone as a necessity. In comparison, only 29% think it’s essential to provide financial security for dependents if they become critically ill and only 40% think it’s essential to provide security for dependents if they die.

Baroness Martha Lane Fox, Founder and Executive Chair, Doteveryone, said: “The report shows both the magnitude of what we’ve achieved so far and the significant challenges we still face in helping people get online.   As before, we can see the real impact digital skills have on people’s financial wellbeing: put plainly, those who are highly digitally capable save more money, more often than those without the skills to use the internet.”

The Rt Hon Karen Bradley MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, said: “We want everyone to have the skills and confidence they need to benefit from the digital revolution, with nobody left behind. That is why improving digital skills is at the heart of the Government’s new Digital Strategy – from free training in core skills for adults, through to a new Digital Skills Partnership bringing together everyone with a passion for tackling the digital skills gap.

“The Consumer Digital Index highlights many of the issues our new strategy aims to address, and Government will be working even more closely with individuals and organisations to make sure the benefits and opportunities of digital are spread across the country and throughout society.”

Karen Price, CEO, Tech Partnership, added: “The Tech Partnership, which is now assuming responsibility from Doteveryone for basic digital skills, is delighted to see Lloyds Bank’s continued commitment to this important issue, and to the challenges and opportunities of helping everyone participate in our increasingly online world.”

Download the full report here

The post Lloyds Bank UK Consumer Digital Index 2017 appeared first on Digital Leaders.

These are the themes that stayed with me:

Infrastructure is essential. The smartness comes from interconnectedness; the way in which devices and services work together with sensors and networks to be more efficient and personalised in order to benefit the individual and the collective.

This only works with low-cost and reliable ubiquitous connectivity and a high degree of interoperability. The higher the degree of interconnectedness, the lower the friction and the greater the potential value.

Adoption will require carrots and sticks. Whilst government and industry can work on defining standards and a suitable legislative framework, that won’t be enough in itself to drive widespread adoption on the high street.

It’s clear to see benefits at scale for a large chain such as a national supermarket, but harder to see the return on investment for a small business.

Business owners will need help in understanding what being part of a connected city means for them. The high street will need a critical mass of adoption in order to drive behavioural change in traders and consumers.

Digital is being forgotten in the regeneration of our high-streets. Shops are often singular entities, islands, yet the high street is becoming experiential. Smartness gives the opportunity for the experience to reach beyond the shop door. 

For a high street store to be profitable, it needs a mix of retailers, independent shops, and other service providers. Big retailers are investing heavily in their transformation, SME high street residents are getting left behind.

Policy making and town planning functions need to consider the new opportunities available via a smart city (or town, or neighbourhood) – sharing of resources, flexible working, and new models for co-operation with shared risks and shared rewards.

Most current work is foundational. Despite almost 20 years of broadband availability the government are still trotting out promises of super fast connections for everyone. We need to ditch the copper pairs and build our smart cities and neighbourhoods on mobile data/5G.

We will be rapidly overtaken if we don’t move quickly beyond building foundations and into the delivery of services of value.

To be innovative we need to ask what smart cities allow us to do that we’ve simply never considered before – and understand that every answer will demand a robust foundation of capabilities.

There is a considerable non-smart legacy. Physical infrastructure, service grids, connectivity – all are lacking to various degrees.

How does an old building become smart, integrated into the neighbourhood, optimised, and a contributor and consumer of the sensor network? However, work to tackle legacy must not limit our ambition.

The inevitable skills gap. No conversation about digital is complete without a discussion of skills gaps. It’s convenient to envision fully digitally transformed cities, but the majority of citizens today do not understand the need or the benefits.

Until “smartness” is a genuine utility with no expert knowledge required (like turning on a tap or plugging in a lamp), we will live in a multi-tier culture differentiated by digital capability.

To address skills and empower all citizens we require smart services designed around well understood user needs. These means picking examples and early services carefully. Automatically turning the kettle on when you pull into the driveway may be a nice gimmick, but a better way to alert carers when a vulnerable individual is in distress has a much more immediate and understandable social impact.

What is a Digital Leaders Research Salon?

The format sees a Chair joined by two speakers and 15-20 attendees. Each speaker is followed by structured Q&A and an open discussion. The Chair is firm and effective in ensuring the discussions run to time and all who wish to have a chance to speak. As is typical, discussions are under Chatham House rules with no live tweeting.

Attendees at this event ranged across local and central government policy making, current and ex-town planners, academia, and various relevant businesses. The range of experiences and perspectives led to an informed and lively conversation. Last week’s group was approximately 80% male and overwhelmingly white, which is a little less well balanced than Salons I’ve been to before.

Topics vary from event to event, as do the sponsors. Events are held around the country in a variety of locations. If you haven’t been to a Digital Leaders Salon event, and there’s one upcoming on a topic that interests you, then I’d recommend it.

This post first appeared on Norm’s LinkedIn page here. You can follow him on Twitter here.

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The recently published “Lloyds Bank UK Business Digital Index” reported that there are still 1.4m small businesses lacking basic digital skills and 78% of sole traders currently invest no money in improving their digital skills capability.

At the quarterly meeting held at City Hall, London on the 20^th January 17, the Digital Leaders LEP Digital Group heard from key stakeholders and organisations that have developed and launched innovative projects and campaigns to try and encourage more SMEs to adopt digital into their businesses. LEP Group members also shared their own regional experiences of what is working best and there was a general discussion on how to overcome the current challenges faced in engaging regionally based small businesses.

In the spirit of collaboration, the group explored effective ways in which to join the dots and ensure the private and public sector work together to avoid regional silos and develop more innovative partnerships that will help tackle the big issue of the digital divide within the SME sector.

Read minutes from the meeting here

Please find presentations and images of the meeting below.

Do it digital – A step change in small business digital in 2017: Pledge to help 1 million small businesses

Regional Spotlight fact sheets: East Midlands, East of England, London, North East, North West, South East, South West, West Midlands, Yorkshire and Humber

The post LEP Digital Group Meeting – 20th Jan at City Hall in London appeared first on Digital Leaders.

In the ever-evolving, fast-paced and busy digital space it can be overwhelming for businesses to understand what they need to focus on in the New Year. The following 7 digital predictions for 2017 will be key for any size of business in any stage, from new start-ups to small businesses developing their online presence, and it also makes for an interesting read!

1. Content Remains King

Content will retain its reign as king in digital marketing for 2017 and will continue to be the go to market activity over advertising and direct marketing. By creating a blog and uploading relevant and helpful content regularly alongside brand storytelling customers can visualise ideas and stories businesses are trying to get across. Created with SEO (search engine optimisation) in mind these blog posts can improve business visibility, grow brand awareness, engage customers and improve customer loyalty. Some content trends to look out for in 2017 include:

• Influencer marketing where key leaders are used to drive brand messages to target audiences, for example posting interviews with leaders or featured posts written by influencers.
• Increased volume of content focusing now on both quantity and quality.
• Supporting written content with visuals such as social media graphics, infographics, videos and custom illustrations.
• Using native advertising to share content to highly targeted audiences. Native advertising referring to paid media where the advert format and experience follows the natural form and function of where it is being displayed.

2. Being Mobile Friendly is not Optional

Mobile is predicted to continue rapidly growing in 2017 and goes hand in hand with cross device marketing and optimisation. The key areas for businesses to think about in 2017 is mobile responsive design to make sure websites are optimised, formatted and designed for mobile devices as well as desktops. Businesses should keep an eye on mobile search and optimisation with Google launching an accelerated mobile pages project (AMP) late in 2015 set to improve and quicken the mobile web experience for everyone in 2016/2017. When looking at mobile optimisation businesses should check that their website and online brand looks and feels consistent across multiple devices, resolutions and screen sizes.

3. Customers Expect Personalisation

Customers will be looking for a personalised experience in 2017 and will be expecting a personal touch and recognition throughout the whole customer journey. Making sure website names, content and blogs are created with audiences and industries in mind and services/products are tailored to individual customers’ needs can see increases in loyalty, retention and revenue. Personalised digital content will play a key part in improving and optimising the in-store shopping experience, particularly in the retail sector.

4. Content Should be More Interactive

Working alongside content and personalisation predictions for 2017, getting customers to interact with content will be a key trend. Engagement should be a key focus with businesses looking to create content that customers will not only enjoy but will act upon and engage with, for example visiting a webpage. Interactive content can come in many forms such as quizzes, polls and competitions whilst websites featuring more interactive designs such as scrolling banners, videos and custom illustrations and imagery will continue to become more popular.

5. Video is the Medium of Choice

Video content and live streaming, where content is delivered live over the internet is predicted to be another big trend in 2017. Incorporating video into online content on websites and blogs as well as social media creates a visual way to tell customers about products and services in a simple format that can be digested easily. YouTube recently released a new app to help small to medium sized businesses make and edit video content and create adverts. Live streaming, such as Facebook Live, started to rise up late in 2016 so 2017 looks to be a big one for communicating and interacting with existing and potential customers in real time. There are also predictions that 2017 will be the era of “Infotainment” where videos are designed to both inform and be entertaining.

6. Online Shopping is not Slowing Down

Online sales and e-commerce are expected to continue increasing in 2017 so businesses should consider if their website can support their online needs. If businesses can set up and support an e-commerce platform it could be a great way to start the New Year and it’s not as complicated as first seems. Online reviews and testimonials are also going to rise in 2017, and are great to showcase across websites, as well as installing confidence and creditability to potential customers and increasing SEO rankings.

7. Data Needs to be Utilised

One of the predicted trends for 2017 will involve using data more than ever. There are many ways to collect data from websites and blogs which can be used to provide customers with useful, helpful content whilst raising brand awareness. This digital trend sits nicely next to personalisation and 2017 will see more businesses effectively segmenting their data to provide customers with tailored content. Free tools such as Google Analytics can be used by all businesses with a website and should also be a key area to plan for New Year start-ups. The power of data has been proven and 2017 looks set to be a year of businesses monitoring and analysing data to better understand their target audiences.

This blog post first appeared on the UK Domain blog website here: https://www.theukdomain.uk/2017/01/04/stay-ahead-with-these-7-digital-predictions-for-2017/

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http://www.digileadersconference.com/ is a day of sharing thought leadership, innovative ideas and industry insight on how the country is adapting to and adopting digital technologies to help growth and prosperity. There were lots of lessons for businesses and charities alike, and here’s what we learned.

The theme of today is Digital Adoption & Growth — ie Digital Transformation for UK industry.

First, a bit of context setting:

• Nominet run 10.5 million domain names.
• 15.7 million people work in SMEs — about 60% of the private sector employment.
• 38m people access the internet every day — spending more time consuming media than they do sleeping.
• 10m people in the UK don’t have any basic skills.
• 4.2m are sole proprietor businesses — 60% of SMEs — this is the biggest opportunity as they are still largely under-represented across social and web.
• 30% of small businesses have no website — those that are online on average grow 4 times as fast.

Mastercard see themselves as a payments technology company — credit cards are only a small part of what they do. They are investing in tools and services that will enable all kinds of organisations that are currently not making the most of digital to generate value.

Most organisations have multiple bank and operational interfaces combined with physical processes. Mastercard want to drive efficiences within this system.

With their app, as Samsung are doing for technology, Mastercard are looking to create financial tools that are integrated across all of a business’ needs, rather than needing separate apps for each type of experience.

Examples of Inspiring, Innovative & Collaborative Partnerships

CGI & small business partnerships

CGI are consultants to government and industries where information is the key commodity. Their background has been working with large scale partners.

They have realised that moving forward, the cutting edge is going to be at the smaller end of the spectrum. The most exciting stuff is two or three people working round Silicon Roundabout rather than at Oracle. As such, they have started to build strategic partnerships with SMEs rather than acquiring a never ending set of tools.

The Cabinet Office has set a target of 25% of public sector contracts being spent with SMEs to go back into the UK economy.

By partnering with 500 of these SMEs, CGI get access to their technology whilst SMEs get access to CGI’s scale, infrastructure and customers. Both benefit.

In a large scale organisation, where business case is king, every idea cannot make it through the prioritisation process. This is much easier within start ups as they can chase a singular idea and test whether it’s got legs in the real world. This isn’t possible or efficient, in a large scale corporate environment.

Reciprocal NDA + Ethical Code of Conduct + Credit Check are all the elements that they put on their SME partners.

Startups want to focus on a single industry rather than work across verticals. A digital healthcare app won’t want to work in finance, even if their product might generate value and meet a similar need.

UKCloud & the UK Public Sector

Across the UK, large organisations supply to large organisations. SMEs can’t do so and are left to supply other SMEs. Cloud services and its scalability are changing this to allow start ups to work with big big organisations.

One of the leading examples in this, is the UK government. 5 years there were 8 suppliers that had 80% of the government spend. Through the use of their G-cloud platform, the government have drastically changed this in favour of startups and SMEs. It’s still only at 30% of procurement spend though.

Challenges to adopting the cloud:

• Some suppliers are drastically opaque about their pricing — the ‘Ryanair model’.
• Security and location of servers are important and not always obvious.
• You can get locked in very quickly and without knowing it, making it hard to move applications between providers.

When the cloud works well, it’s able to bring small suppliers and organisations together on a common platform, to deliver big projects at speed and scale. The Ministry of Justice currently have 14 SMEs delivering a single project in 6 weeks, that previously took them 18 months thanks to the UKCloud platform.

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In DWP Digital, innovation is the motivation behind the three things driving everything we do; improving outcomes for society; making DWP more efficient and effective and enhancing the customer experience. Since I joined DWP in November 2014, I have been inspired by the scale at which we operate and the pace of creativity and imagination which drives delivery of those aims.

Innovation to… improve outcomes for society

What motivates me most is our social purpose – few organisations globally provide digital leaders with the opportunity to apply our skills and experience to objectives as important as helping disadvantaged people into work, building a secure retirement for millions, helping people with a disability play a full part in society and supporting children and parents in separated families.

Our customers rightly expect the same 24/7 secure, easy-to-use digital services that they experience with banks, retailers and other large organisations. So we’re innovating to ensure Digital technology gives them greater control of their lives, whether they’re looking for work or claiming their State Pension.

Innovation to… make DWP more effective and efficient

We’ve seen some big cultural shifts in DWP in recent years, and one of the biggest is the pre-eminence of design thinking. Design is where creativity and innovation meet user needs. It shapes ideas into practical and attractive propositions for those who use our services. Design thinking is our default starting point, because better user experience trumps functionality every day.

Today we are driving hard for visualised analytics to be the norm not the exception, for different decision makers from policy makers to service designers, estates planners and fraud investigators. We are investing in the skills and infrastructures that will enable more and more solutions with machine learning analytics embedded within them to anticipate the citizen needs and help tailor the level of support provided by our employees and digital services.

In an organisation as big as ours, which delivers services on which tens of millions of citizens rely, to innovate is an obligation, not a choice.  An essential part of modern government involves achieving cost savings that new technologies and designs can bring, anticipate the expectations of our citizens, and be a better partner in the internet ecosystem. This means a cultural change from command and control to carefully managed trial and error. Innovation is best achieved when we can draw on a mix of in-house disruptors and creative people and organisations from across sectors.

Innovation to… enhance the customer experience

We’re researching the potential of next generation technology such as cognitive computing, machine learning and block-chain technologies. We’re using coding experiments to influence customer support strategy. We also think there’s huge potential in technologies such as virtual reality – for example, we’ve seen exciting evidence suggesting that it can make it easier for people with autism find work.

We’re using data and analytics to support innovation, although the Real Time Information (Pay As You Earn tax reporting) solution with HMRC is well known, other examples exist of cross-government efficiencies. For example, working with the Department of Energy and Climate Change and energy suppliers, DWP was able to identify over 1.2 million benefit recipients that were eligible for a £140 discount per customer off their electricity bill. This amounts to £168.5 million fully funded by the energy suppliers to DWP claimants automatically.

Joined-up digital services require working seamlessly with forward-thinking commercial partners. In DWP, we’re fundamentally changing our relationship with the marketplace, moving away from monolithic contracts with a small number of big suppliers towards a micro-services model which draws on innovative solutions from a much broader range of partners – including SMEs. We understand that small, agile companies offer a vast array of innovative solutions that could help DWP deliver services faster and better. We consider our commercial suppliers as partners. Working with Crown Commercial Services, other government departments as well as Digital Leaders, TechUK and other organisations to help increase to collaborate, share, discuss and find solutions together. Innovation at DWP is not just about technology, but about people and we welcome and encourage ideas from organisations of diverse shapes and sizes.

Look out for more opportunities to talk us at similar events via the Digital Leader’s website and/or follow us on twitter @DWPDigital.

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Recent research from the British Retail Consortium and Springboard shows that over 10% of shops on the high street now lie empty. Yet, despite this, footfall across the country’s high streets is actually rising.

A recent study, commissioned by us at Maybe*has found that 41% of shoppers do in fact head to the high street to look for ideas, reinforcing the fact that the high street is an extremely valid part of the consumer shopping experience. Our research, alongside the British Retail Consortium and Springboard’s findings, indicates that shoppers are heading in store to browse but aren’t choosing to buy there.

Consumers are increasingly likely to turn to online shopping after browsing the high street as it gives them the flexibility to trawl the waters of the web and find the item they want at the best price. The study also revealed that 39% of consumers get their ideas from shopping websites due to the huge variety on offer. Shoppers are more likely to purchase online as there is far more to see – you can visit more online shops in a single day then you can on foot.

Evidently then, there is a constant battle with online and offline shopping. But this needn’t be the case. The truth is the two should go hand in hand. Maybe*’s research has demonstrated that over 74% of high street retailers have no active social media presence within their regional stores. When you consider the amount of online shopping activity, both browsing and buying, retailers are certainly missing a trick here. This serves to isolate the high street from the consumer, separating the online and offline shopping experience, when retailers should be doing all they can to marry the two together.

In order to connect the retail experience, both online and offline, we’re working with GFirst LEP, a Gloucestershire local enterprise partnership, Gloucester City Council, Cheltenham Borough Council, Stroud County Council and the government, combining together for a pilot project called The Great Gloucestershire High Street. Maybe* is delivering the ’What do you think?’  (#WDYT) campaign as a key element in this pilot. This is a social media driven campaign that actively encourages retailers and shoppers towards a dialogue through social media. We call this conversational commerce.

Led by the hashtag #WDYT, it encourages consumers to put shopping decisions to social media, engaging with both the retailer and other social media. At present the campaign has had over 8 million #WDYT impressions, 10,000 #WDYT entries and 100 retailers signed up.

Our numbers are growing, but encouraging those early retailers to sign up to the campaign was a huge challenge. When initially pitching the campaign to retailers their immediate response was ‘what do you mean?’, ‘how will this work?’ etc. We had to educate the retailers and they had to trust us to give the campaign a chance. As a result, the retailers involved are thrilled with the response. The campaign encourages footfall into their stores as well as retailer and consumer engagement on social media.

Our aim now is to continue to educate retailers and to raise awareness of the campaign to consumers. We’re seeing strong figures 15 weeks into the campaign and aim for this growth to continue.

As Dr. Diane Savory, OBE DL, Chair of Gfirst LEP says “Its really exciting to see our Gloucestershire towns and retailers collaboratively embracing technology to accelerate the evolution of our high streets. This is creating a Blueprint that can be used all across the UK”.

The #WDYT campaign is something we hope to see rolled out at a national level over the next year or two, and we hope it’s the kind of initiative that can really set the standard, encouraging greater interaction. The high street is evolving, as is a consumer’s view of what the high street is. Retailers need to do the same. A great place to start is by using the tools they have to hand, with social media being an obvious, and comparatively easy to use, part of their arsenal.

#WDYT – What retailers & towns are saying from Maybe* on Vimeo.

About:

Polly Barnfield OBE is founder and CEO of Maybe*. She previously created the Multi Award winning Everyclick and Give as you Live platforms for the Charity sector. The Maybe* platform makes shopping decisions easier, more connected, and much more fun. Maybe* works with shoppers, retailers and places to deliver a seamless retail experience across all channels and devices. See www.maybe.xyz and www.greatgloshs.com

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The Council for Digital Inclusion brings together leaders from business, charities and central and local government to help us build an inclusive – and digitally empowered – nation.

It is the latest step in the Government’s commitment for the UK to be one of the most digitally skilled places in the world, all part of our mission to create a society that works for everyone.

The Council is in its infancy – today we laid out some early action plans – but it will be playing a pivotal role in making sure organisations in social housing, charity, banking, telecoms, retail and government work together to commission and deliver initiatives to increase digital inclusion.

A week after my department announced a pledge to provide basic digital skills training to all adults in England who need it – and following figures released earlier this year by the Office for National Statistics that 5.3 million people in the UK have never used the internet – I’m determined to make the Council an important part of our aim to transform the lives of millions of people in the digital darkness.

We’ve made huge progress in Government. We’re among the world’s leading digital administrations, with our approaches being replicated by governments across the world. Now we want to lead the way in showing how coordinated work by government and organisations in the private and voluntary sectors can help arm the public with the skills they need to succeed.

Evidence shows us individuals are more likely to lack basic digital skills if they have a disability, are older, or earn less. Helping them gain the basic skills to use the Internet can lead to improved job opportunities, better health, reduced isolation, financial inclusion and increased social interaction.

There are also huge opportunities for organisations too – and I want the Council to help make clear the benefits for all businesses, regardless of their size. According to Lloyds Business Digital Index 2015, 23% of small businesses and 58% of charities lack the basic digital skills which will help them thrive.

Digitally savvy organisations are a third more likely to have seen an increase in turnover in the last two years. Despite this, more than half of charities still don’t have a website and of the least digitally advanced organisations, just two in five believe digital is strategically important.

The Council will set up taskforces to tackle specific geographic areas, or barriers to digital inclusion, or to support particular demographics, and the organisations participating will have real power to deliver results.

I’d like to thank everyone involved for their commitment.

Further information

• Digital Inclusion dashboard on GOV.UK
• Read the Digital Inclusion blog

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