{"id":16422,"date":"2016-07-14T16:58:29","date_gmt":"2016-07-14T15:58:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/digileaders.com\/?p=16422"},"modified":"2019-05-08T14:46:45","modified_gmt":"2019-05-08T13:46:45","slug":"digital-councils-social-inclusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/digital-councils-social-inclusion\/","title":{"rendered":"Digital councils and social inclusion"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UK is facing a major digital skills crisis.<\/p>\n

For those of us who own a smartphone, use apps and social media, shop and bank online – and see others all around us doing the same – this may come as a surprise.<\/p>\n

But the reality is that we have a technology skills shortage at all levels, from the very basic right up to the most advanced skills.<\/p>\n

Across the UK, 12.6 million adults \u2013 almost one in four \u2013 and 1.2 million small and medium-sized businesses lack the basic skills needed to send an email, apply for a job, or shop online. At the same time, businesses are telling us that 85 per cent of technical positions are difficult to fill because of a lack of specialist skills.<\/p>\n

Having digital skills improves a whole range of outcomes, including employability, financial inclusion, social mobility, and better health and wellbeing. We know that online households are on average \u00a3744 a year better off. Proportionately, lower-income households save even more. Those with an annual income of less than \u00a315,000 save on average \u00a3516 per year, equivalent to six weekly family shops.<\/p>\n

For organisations, digital skills improve profitability, efficiency, productivity, employee engagement and customer satisfaction. Once in work, people with good digital skills earn between 3 and 10 per cent more than those without. But without digital skills it is almost impossible to find or apply for a job.<\/p>\n

To ensure the UK adult population is fit for the digital age would cost \u00a31.65 billion up to 2025 but the present value would be a staggering \u00a314.3 billion\u00a0\u2013 a return of almost \u00a310 for every \u00a31 spent.<\/p>\n

So what does all this mean for local government? Councils need to find cheaper and more effective ways of delivering services to their residents. At the same time, users of digital technology now expect to interact with local government in the same way they do in other areas of their life \u2013 wherever and whenever they choose, in a personalised way.<\/p>\n

In London, Hammersmith and Fulham\u2019s online self-service portal has saved \u00a31.15 million annually, with 70 per cent of households registered. Barking and Dagenham has achieved a 100 per cent digital shift for benefit claims, reducing processing time by 30 days and saving \u00a3617,000 annually.<\/p>\n

Back-office changes can also save councils money while increasing the digital know-how of staff. Hillingdon saved \u00a3750,000 a year through moving to Google Apps and Shropshire Council\u2019s Project WIP open source website service saved \u00a3204,000 over an initial five-year period.<\/p>\n

But councils cannot afford to ignore those who are unable to transact with them this way. Ironically, the highest users of public services are those least likely to be digitally capable. To help local councils and other organisations, Doteveryone produced the first ever UK digital exclusion heatmap (see\u00a0www.doteveryone.org.uk\/resources\/heatmap<\/a>) which shows a clear correlation between digital exclusion and other social factors, with those in lower socio-economic groups, retired, unemployed, in poor health and less educationally qualified at greatest risk. By addressing digital exclusion we can also help address social exclusion.<\/p>\n

Doteveryone also created an online resource centre and interactive platform called Go ON Local (see\u00a0https:\/\/local.go-on.co.uk\/<\/a>), that supports organisations and individuals looking to help people with their digital skills. We\u2019re using this platform in community projects in Croydon and Lewisham to test, learn and share new ways of reaching those most in need of support. Our Go ON North East and Go ON North West regional projects also highlighted how concerted cross-sector effort across a whole region can dramatically increase levels of digital skills.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s now time to scale up that good practice and ensure digital councils become the norm. As they embrace digitisation, councils have not only a real opportunity but a clear responsibility to support those most at risk of digital exclusion. By understanding the risk factors affecting their residents, local government can play its part in addressing the digital skills crisis.<\/p>\n

\u2018This article first appeared in the Local Government Association\u2019s first magazine \u2013 see\u00a0<\/em>www.local.gov.uk\/first<\/em><\/a>\u2019,<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The UK is facing a major digital skills crisis. For those of us who own a smartphone, use apps and social media, shop and bank online – and see others all around us doing the same – this may come as a surprise. But the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18217,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-16422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","region-london","topic-healthtech","topic-digital-skills","topic-government"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDigital councils and social inclusion | Digital Leaders<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/digital-councils-social-inclusion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Digital councils and social inclusion | Digital Leaders\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The UK is facing a major digital skills crisis. For those of us who own a smartphone, use apps and social media, shop and bank online – and see others all around us doing the same – this may come as a surprise. But the […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/digital-councils-social-inclusion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Digital Leaders\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/digitalleadersprogramme\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-07-14T15:58:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-05-08T13:46:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Fotolia-asrawolf-63938626_Sub_M.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1780\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1068\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"louise.stokes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@DigiLeaders\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@DigiLeaders\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"louise.stokes\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/digital-councils-social-inclusion\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/digital-councils-social-inclusion\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"louise.stokes\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#\/schema\/person\/462f45d8460739a49739e1ca9d29abcc\"},\"headline\":\"Digital councils and social inclusion\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-07-14T15:58:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-05-08T13:46:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/digital-councils-social-inclusion\/\"},\"wordCount\":666,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/digital-councils-social-inclusion\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Fotolia-asrawolf-63938626_Sub_M.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Government\",\"Skills\",\"Digital Women\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/digital-councils-social-inclusion\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/digital-councils-social-inclusion\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/digital-councils-social-inclusion\/\",\"name\":\"Digital councils and social inclusion | Digital Leaders\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/digital-councils-social-inclusion\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/digital-councils-social-inclusion\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Fotolia-asrawolf-63938626_Sub_M.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-07-14T15:58:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-05-08T13:46:45+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/digital-councils-social-inclusion\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/digital-councils-social-inclusion\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/digital-councils-social-inclusion\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Fotolia-asrawolf-63938626_Sub_M.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Fotolia-asrawolf-63938626_Sub_M.jpg\",\"width\":1780,\"height\":1068},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/digital-councils-social-inclusion\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Digital councils and social inclusion\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/\",\"name\":\"Digital Leaders\",\"description\":\"We Lead Transformation\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Digital Leaders\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Digital-Leaders\u00ae-logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Digital-Leaders\u00ae-logo.jpg\",\"width\":3000,\"height\":2992,\"caption\":\"Digital Leaders\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/digitalleadersprogramme\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/DigiLeaders\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/groups\/6527637\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCK1pUziPGg9J8R1S0FhBgiQ\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#\/schema\/person\/462f45d8460739a49739e1ca9d29abcc\",\"name\":\"louise.stokes\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fbadf41d557e288952dd3a8457586aad5718ad0881087b9b3088826fed24574d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fbadf41d557e288952dd3a8457586aad5718ad0881087b9b3088826fed24574d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"louise.stokes\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Digital councils and social inclusion | Digital Leaders","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/digital-councils-social-inclusion\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Digital councils and social inclusion | Digital Leaders","og_description":"The UK is facing a major digital skills crisis. For those of us who own a smartphone, use apps and social media, shop and bank online – and see others all around us doing the same – this may come as a surprise. But the […]","og_url":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/digital-councils-social-inclusion\/","og_site_name":"Digital Leaders","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/digitalleadersprogramme","article_published_time":"2016-07-14T15:58:29+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-05-08T13:46:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1780,"height":1068,"url":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Fotolia-asrawolf-63938626_Sub_M.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"louise.stokes","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@DigiLeaders","twitter_site":"@DigiLeaders","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"louise.stokes","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/digital-councils-social-inclusion\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/digital-councils-social-inclusion\/"},"author":{"name":"louise.stokes","@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#\/schema\/person\/462f45d8460739a49739e1ca9d29abcc"},"headline":"Digital councils and social inclusion","datePublished":"2016-07-14T15:58:29+00:00","dateModified":"2019-05-08T13:46:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/digital-councils-social-inclusion\/"},"wordCount":666,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/digital-councils-social-inclusion\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Fotolia-asrawolf-63938626_Sub_M.jpg","keywords":["Government","Skills","Digital Women"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/digileaders.com\/digital-councils-social-inclusion\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/digital-councils-social-inclusion\/","url":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/digital-councils-social-inclusion\/","name":"Digital councils and social inclusion | Digital Leaders","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/digital-councils-social-inclusion\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/digital-councils-social-inclusion\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Fotolia-asrawolf-63938626_Sub_M.jpg","datePublished":"2016-07-14T15:58:29+00:00","dateModified":"2019-05-08T13:46:45+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/digital-councils-social-inclusion\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/digileaders.com\/digital-councils-social-inclusion\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/digital-councils-social-inclusion\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Fotolia-asrawolf-63938626_Sub_M.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Fotolia-asrawolf-63938626_Sub_M.jpg","width":1780,"height":1068},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/digital-councils-social-inclusion\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Digital councils and social inclusion"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/","name":"Digital Leaders","description":"We Lead Transformation","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#organization","name":"Digital Leaders","url":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Digital-Leaders\u00ae-logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Digital-Leaders\u00ae-logo.jpg","width":3000,"height":2992,"caption":"Digital Leaders"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/digitalleadersprogramme","https:\/\/x.com\/DigiLeaders","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/groups\/6527637\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCK1pUziPGg9J8R1S0FhBgiQ"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#\/schema\/person\/462f45d8460739a49739e1ca9d29abcc","name":"louise.stokes","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fbadf41d557e288952dd3a8457586aad5718ad0881087b9b3088826fed24574d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fbadf41d557e288952dd3a8457586aad5718ad0881087b9b3088826fed24574d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"louise.stokes"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16422\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}