What is it about?
Can you tell me more?
Why is it important?
What does 'digital' mean?
Why bother to develop a strategy and why we do not already have one?
Isn't this going to take a substantial amount of effort and time?
Does this mean that there are resources allocated to this strategy?
Are we aiming to become bidders?
Could this become a talk shop?
Will we have free Internet connection in Swindon provided by public networks?
Who should I contact if I have further questions?

What is it about?

The Swindon Digital Strategy Board is a group of stakeholders from the Government, private sector (especially ICT companies), independent ICT entities and the community sector that have the aim of developing the Swindon Community Digital Strategy.

Can you tell me more?

The Swindon Community Digital Strategy started with a seminar/forum on 9 January and it is the main participative mechanism to fulfil the aspiration of Swindon becoming a Digital City and implement technological solutions to economic and social deprivation.

Outcome 3 of the Local Area Agreement (LAA) states:

We will be a pioneer in the use of digital technology ensuring that all people have access to the benefits of the Internet and information technology.

Why is it important?

Digital technology has been tried in different places in the UK as a support to social and economic inclusion programmes. It can be seen that there is an enormous opportunity in many communities of job creation and retention, improved education, businesses and health systems.

What does 'digital' mean?

Digital is defined as "the computer science of or relating to a device that can read, write, or store information that is represented in numerical form".

Digital is also related to connectivity - e.g. Connecting South West has defined its aims are to increase the use of broadband and make it easy for businesses to take advantage of the benefits that ICT in general can bring, and has separated related activites into three categories; ICT take up and use, communications infrastructure and support.

Why bother to develop a strategy and why we do not already have one?

Every local city or region has different aspirations and realities and a community strategy needs to reflect those unique characteristics. The inclusion of technology as a way of resolving citizen aspirations has been relatively new and the development of recent broadband systems has paved the way for expanding different services and offering feasible solutions.

Isn't this going to take a substantial amount of effort and time?

Mainly participation in the SDCB will demand two hours per two months. However if you want to initiate, rollout or support a specific project it will be necessary for a modest extra investment in time to carry out project management and so obtain its implementation.

Does this mean that there are resources allocated to this strategy?

There is not a direct allocation of resources to this initiative. However there are different digital public and community projects that already have grants and some of them can be amalgamated as a joining of forces and resources. There are other public projects that can consider technology as a way of achieving their goals.

In addition there are regional, national and European entities that can provide grants and expertise but these entities would need to consider proposals and structured projects.

Are we aiming to become bidders?

Contrary to general belief, resourcing is the final stage of any project and there are issues that may represent initial obstacles and need to be overcome. For example there are issues regarding competition, state aids, milestone measures, effectiveness, sustainability, technologies and schemes (subsidies, community networks, private provider partnership, public network sharing, etc)

Could this become a talk shop?

No, definitely not. The active participation of the community in the seminar held on 9 January, the current interest in the digital transformation of the region and the sharing of knowledge, feedback and solutions will guarantee the success of the strategy.

Will we have free Internet connection in Swindon provided by public networks?

No. It would create discouragement to the market competition, avoid future accessibility of improved products and affect the benefits of economies of scale and reduced prices.

However there are exceptions to areas without commercial interest and suffering remoteness, which have structural problems. In these cases intervention will stimulate supply and demand of the market and hence the subsequent participation of private providers will guarantee sustainable solutions. In all cases it is necessary to have a commercial sustainability and hence partnership with ICT provider companies is vital.

Who should I contact if I have further questions?

If you have an enquiry or would like to send comments, projects, useful links, or participate in one of the boards, please contact:

Economic Development Department
Swindon Borough Council
Premier House
Station Road
Swindon
SN1 1TZ

E-mail: economicdevelopment@swindon.gov.uk