Julie HarrisChief Executive, COSMIC

Devon - Rural ICT Hubs

• www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq7TKIhrGNA

• Everybody Online – Newlyn

• www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzyLzV55j9A

• Age Action, Ireland

Key issues for rural Devon

• Loss of local services• Transportation• Cost of services• Ageing population• Economic downturn• Underused venues

• village halls, learning centres

• Underused facilities• ICT, mobile units

Employment and Trends

• Mismatch between labour market for ICT workers and ICT literacy

• Workers over 60 unlikely to have received on-the-job ICT training

• Up to 60% of 50-64 year-olds may face difficulties (physical or cognitive) in using ICT

Digital inclusion= Social inclusion= Financial inclusion

Over 30% of adults are considered digitally excluded – and most of them also socially and economically excluded

“Marry social justice and economic agendas much more closely”

.

“Use technology as a means to an end – not the end itself”

• Learning• Selling• Communicating• Accessing services

- Dorset- Somerset- Shropshire

and next …Devon – even better!

Village ICT Hubs – • health support – online and virtual

surgeries (e.g. Cybermoor)• access to services – online, interactive

– e-government for all • learning support – e-learning, mentoring• business support – online assistance,

returns• video conferencing - communications

The Changing Times

• Cultural • Technological • Demographic• Economic

In the News – last week :

www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/mar/14/workandcareers.worklifebalance

Jo Causon from the Chartered Management Institute on its study on the future of work -

• “Within a decade millions of workers will be at home juggling their careers with caring for children and older relatives”

• “an exodus from the traditional workplace caused partly by environmental pressure to reduce the carbon footprint of commuting and partly by the demographic pressure of an ageing population”

• “a proliferation of "virtual" companies, often small community-basedenterprises without conventional business premises”

Learn from other projects : • Don’t just throw more money at hardware purchase

– plan strategically for effective use of ICT • Identify key people in each community to engage

(Village Champions) and links within communities e.g. Parish Councils and voluntary organisations

• Recognise and alleviate fears – security, responsibilities, management, maintenance, costs of connections

• Provide a central support service to offer ongoing support to managers, users, volunteers

A vision for the future in rural Devon: • Any person, living anywhere in the county, with

whatever level of skill has access to :• Local sources of support

– access information, services and support – help them to develop their skills, engage them in local

democracy, involve them in community regeneration, – enhance their business and employment activities.

• All of these activities will revolve around the development and support of local ICT hubs or points based in our villages.

Links• www.epractice.eu • www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzyLzV55j9A • www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq7TKIhrGNA• www.citizensonline.co.uk• www.citizensonline.org.uk/everybody_onli

ne• www.youtube.com/user/EverybodyOnline

Contact Details

COSMICwww.cosmic.org.uk

Julie Harrisjulie@cosmic.org.uk www.slideshare.net/cosmicjulie

www.swict.wordpress.com – SW Regional ICT Champion Blog

www.socialenterpriseambassadors.org.uk/harris- Ambassadors Blog