Author: Nick Booth

The dark side of the digital divide – and a damn fool question?

an imahe with statistics showing the 11m digitally disconnected in gre and the rest in green
A section from Tinder Foundation’s Digital Nation Graphic – click on it to find the whole thing.

A helpful visualisation was published by the Tinder Foundation this month.  It shows the digitally connected in the sunny highlands and the digitally disconnected on the other side of the divide – in the digital darkness.  It tells us the economic cost to individuals if they don’t have the skills or will or tools to get online – and it shows us that the wealthy are online.   Helen Milner – the chief exec at Tinder – blogged:

What’s really frustrating is that we do know what works. In the centre of our infographic is a tree of inspiration which has eight ‘leaves’ which cover how to do digital inclusion. They include outreach – helping people where they live work and play, hyper-local delivery in informal community spaces, local marketing, one-to-one support from volunteers and tutors, partnerships with trusted intermediaries to reach the hardest to reach, free, flexible access, and bite-sized, self-directed learning. No matter who I talk to about their programmes and schemes, these eight elements appear in some guise or another.

adding a plea…

It’s not just helping people to use digital, but using digital to help people. That’s about better use of data to provide personalised online learning that works for each individual. It’s about sharing data through APIs and using open source practices, embedding each other’s learning content, and working on platforms for co-creation to involve the learners in defining content and helping to produce it.

We also need to get cleverer about partnerships. We need to work together to amplify, scale and share the pockets of good practice. And to help us spread the word we need the ears of leaders in big and small businesses, local government, central government, innovative technology companies, social housing providers, further education colleges, libraries, think tanks, community organisations, Foundations and philanthropists.

All good stuff but not maybe that easy to pull off?

So what encourages collaboration like this?

  • Money certainly can.  Often the way money is shared around  is funders saying “offer us a solution to a problem and we’ll decided which of those on we we want to fund”.   It is rarely put on the table simply to encourage people who already have solutions to have the time to invest in working together.   Of course sometimes money distracts from collaboration. The relationships are framed around who will get which slice of the money – not what’s the best thing to do next and is it better if we do that together.
  • Working at the right scale matters.  Asking to collaborate on solving large problems – lets get 11 million people online – tends to mean opportunities for organisations that have scale.  Smaller groups of people are more likely to respond to “lets get my Nan and 9 other  Nans a cheaper holiday this year”.

In many ways the business of doing more of the good things and doing them cleverer is something we already understand.

When we run  a social media surgery we ask people what they are trying to achieve and then we show them things that will help them.  A neighbourhood forum might be able to use a facebook group.  We are focused on what they care about and in doing that we also get to do what we care about – which is growing the civic conversation online.  We have resources we can share with them (skills and tools), we offer them the ones that seem relevant and only expect them to take up things that make sense for them.

So what if this were closer to the way we built partnerships and innovated?  Perhaps a funder or a national org could ask those already doing things to bridge this divide what sounds like a damn fool question:

How can we help you?

The funder might have skills, a networks, new tools, money, knowledge, support in kind.  They answer to the question might be ” give me a million quid” but will more often be “some publicity or  half a salary for a year.” I don’t mean this question to be about intelligence gathering – I mean for funding orgs to use it as a means to distribute money and other assets.  Do what a surgeon would do – and give the people you are helping what they ask for, when they ask for it.

Social Networks as part of the ladder out of poverty – a report from Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Screenshot_28_10_2013_12_14

Published last week by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and led by Angus McCabe of Birmingham University the key points are:

  • People’s social networks were shaped by factors including ethnicity, class and gender, but personal characteristics, such as confidence, were also important in developing useful connections. Family and friends were seen as the basis for most relationships but there were low levels of awareness about wider social networks and how they might be used for moving on from poverty.

  • People’s links beyond their own ethnic community were important, but the added dimension of racism could prevent access to ‘mainstream’ influential networks.

  • Social networks tended to be ‘like with like’, so while they were used to access employment, this was often into low-paid jobs which relied on informal recruitment processes.

  • Strong bonds with family and friends helped mitigate the effects of poverty. However, developing bridging and linking ties with networks that could move people on from poverty involved risks and scarce energy and resources.

  • Voluntary, community and faith based organisations were seen as important for facilitating access to cross-cultural networks.

  • There were examples of good practice in agencies encouraging people to consider how their social networks could help them move out of poverty. However, there was no consistency in practice between agencies.

thanks for mentioning the social media surgeries as part of an approach which can help spread skills

The report reccomends:

  • Mentoring could be powerful in promoting positive use of networks for gaining work, setting up businesses and progressing to better jobs. There would be value in piloting peer mentoring within the workplace and for those finding a return to work problematic.
  • Employer action is required to address the negative ‘grace and favour’ aspects of networks in recruitment and promotion. Organisations should routinely review the extent to which informal workplace networks discriminate in access to employment and progression in the workplace.
  • As online access increasingly becomes the default for service provision, the need to promote digital fluency becomes more urgent. Social media clinics, with an emphasis on network aware ness, could be developed and linked to digital champions in Job Centre Plus.
  • The networks of service users were recognised as under-used resources in identifying training and employment opportunities, but there was no systematic agency practice. Standardised ‘toolkits’ could be developed for employment support agencies. Toolkits should enable people to map their networks, help build strategies for extending and using networks, and provide signposting to agencies that can assist in developing ‘bridging’ capital.
  • ESOL classes are critical for people from migrant and refugee communities seeking employment. They provide important spaces for cross-cultural networking that can lead to helpful inter-ethnic friendships and increased confidence in language and literacy.
  • Voluntary, community and faith organisations offer vital advice and services, and inform signposting and networking within and between ethnic groups. These resources need to be protected and recognised. The principles of the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 should be incorporated into public service commissioning procedures, with contractors required to demonstrate added social value through access to community networks.
  • High quality volunteering helps develop links beyond family and community: its importance needs to be recognised, as does the diversity of motivations for taking up unpaid work in the community.

Find out more here and here.

Making digital things should be as common for young people as making food, doing art or making music.

This is an offer to fund work with  young people (from 5 to 18) to encourage them to make digital things.  I’m told that the Midlands didn’t grab it’s fair share of this fund the last time it was offered so go for it.  (You’ve missed the Midlands day explaining it but there is an online one in November) – here’s lots more info that Amy at Nesta has just sent me:

The best link would be www.nesta.org.uk/digitalmakersfund

www.nesta.org.uk/digitalmakersfund

Nesta and Nominet Trust (proud supporters of Make Things Do Stuff) are pleased to announce a second open call for ideas to significantly increase the number of young people who participate in digital making activities.

We want digital making to go mainstream. We want making with technology to become as accessible an activity as making music or making food. Ubiquity is a long way off, but we want to support initiatives that can take us closer to that goal.

The second call is backed by a fund of £250,000 and we expect to make a small number of grants between £20,000 and £50,000. Alongside the grant a package of tailored support will be offered; this includes expert advice and mentoring and access to Nesta and Nominet Trust’s expertise, networks and event space.

 

1. What we’re looking to support

We expect successful initiatives will use young people’s existing interests, passions and pastimes as a gateway to digital making, inspiring young people to become creators, not just users of digital technologies. We’re looking for applications from organisations, or partnerships between organisations, that have the capacity to engage thousands of young people in digital making activities.

  • Use different interests and content to reach new audiences –how can digital making tie in with music, fashion, sport, film or brands that will inspire young people to participate?
  • The ‘making’ element is important. We want ideas that lead participants to the creation of a digital product that they can show to and share with others.
  • We’re interested in reaching different networks and communities for learning – youth clubs, libraries, after school clubs, interest groups and social networks speak to thousands of young people every day. How can they integrate digital making into their activities?

·         We take a broad view of digital making that encompasses 3D printing and physical computing, as well as coding and programming, and want to work with partners who are noisy advocates for the importance of digital making; who will use all the channels available to them to shout about and promote their projects.

2.If you’re interested in applying?

You can find out more about the fund’s aims and how it works by enrolling on one of our workshops or webchats (dates below).  Anyone who hopes to submit an application must attend one of these or if you’re interested in knowing more about the programme and networking with others we’d be happy to see you too.

 

Department of Communities and Local Government if looking for a PHD Student for Data Linking and Sharing

I sit on the Local Public Data Panel for the Department for Communities and Local Government.  The dept has an ESRC funded post for the PHD Student – specialising in Data Linking and Sharing.  If you’re interested or know someone who is this is the info I’ve been sent:    ESRC PhD Studentship – DCLG Data Sharing Position .  Other research internships  in government are here.

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Dear Prof Sir Nigel and Local Public Data Panel Members,

The Department of Communities and Local Government is seeking a PhD Student intern through the ESRC Student internship programme to investigate local data linking.

We have been asked to bring it to the attention of any academics or others who might be interested in putting forward candidates and we wondered if you might have some ideas on potential takers.

Please find attached the advert for the internship which is now live. The project is quite flexible at this point but is focused on working closely with at least one local authority to investigate the potential barriers, costs and benefits to linking data at a local level to improve public service delivery.

<<ESRC PhD Studentship – DCLG Data Sharing Position.pdf>>
The deadline to apply is 18 October and the link for more information is http://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/funding-opportunities/internship-opportunities.aspx.

Grateful if you could please pass the details on to anyone who might be interested.  Any queries should be directed to esrcinternshipscheme@esrc.ac.uk or to Cody Xuereb, Economic Advisor, in DCLG’s Analysis and Innovation Directorate (Tel: 0303 444 1722, Email: cody.xuereb@communities.gsi.gov.uk).

 

Good luck.