Digital Participation Framework

The Scottish Government has just launched a new strategy outlining how digital technology can be used to tackle inequalities and benefit communities across the country

The National Digital Participation Framework for Local Action maps out how helping people to get online and become confident users of the internet can open up new possibilities in healthcare, education and economic development. It also details how anyone can access support and training on digital skills at home, at work and in communities.

The press release very much focuses on the voluntary sector although there seems to be a role for libraries here.

The press release can be found at http://news.scotland.gov.uk/News/Strategy-maps-out-net-gains-bc8.aspx

The National Digital Participation Framework for Local Action can be found at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2014/04/6821

The executive summary says:

The National Framework for Local Action sets out how Scottish Government is working in partnership with public, private and third sector organisations to ensure that all sections of Scottish society are able to make confident use of digital technologies and the internet. The document makes it clear that digital technology cannot be allowed to reinforce social and economic inequalities. Actions will remove barriers to digital participation, tackle inequalities, help people to engage with online public services and provide opportunities to develop skills required for active digital citizens. The approach is based on a national collaborative movement with those organisations and agencies closest to the people who need help to get online.

Libraries are only briefly mentioned and the RSE’s recently published study is referred to and there are rather a lot of case studies. It will be interesting to see where this goes

There is a parallel UK document and the Society of Chief Librarians appears as a partner so presumably they are on the case.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-digital-inclusion-strategy/uk-digital-inclusion-charter

John Crawford

SCVO digital participation update

Busy working through my emails after the easter break and came across an email from the Digital Participation team at SCVO (Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations) about the first fortnightly update from them.

Items in the update were:

Basic online skills award opportunity

The Big Lottery Fund has announced the shortlist for its basic online skills award. We are working closely with both Tinder Foundationand with BT / Citizens Online to develop and, if successful, deliver activity across Scotland. Right now we are looking for local delivery partners and welcome expressions of interest from anyone who would like to get involved. 

Making digital real

The Carnegie UK Trust published a new report on digital participation, including case studies of the great activity going on at the Wheatley Group and at Digital Fife. The report also includes seven helpful tests for anyone designing projects to promote digital participation.

UK Government digital inclusion strategy

The UK Government has launched a new Digital Inclusion Strategy and Digital Inclusion Charter, with an aim to reduce the number of people who are not online by 25% by 2016. Participation has been a central pillar of the Scottish Government's digital strategy for a number of years now, and we are looking forward to refreshing this in the weeks ahead.

SCVO digital participation

There aim is to

 "keep you up to date with news, events and information about digital participation in Scotland and beyond". They "would love to hear what you are up to" and "if you have news to share" to get in touch with them.

I was curious about receiving the update and SCVO's stance and involvement in digital participation. On there website is a digital participation webpage which says that:

Digital participation is about empowering people and communities to pursue the things that matter most to them.

The third sector will play a critical role in ensuring that everyone is included in the new digital age. SCVO is stepping up its activity on digital participation, working across the public, private and third sectors to promote a Digital Scotland for all. Initiatives intended to raise digital participation must go with the grain of peoples’ lives, and work through the people and organisations that are already trusted sources of support and advice.

This is good news as the third sector is a large sector and involved in a wide range of interests often with people and groups that are not engaged with other sectors or have found them less than supportive.

I would recommend that you have a look at their website and their thoughts / activities. There looks like their our common causes that information literacy / our community could link into / support. 

Invitation to the launch of the final report of the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s Inquiry, Spreading the Benefits of Digital Participation.

Spreading the Benefits of Digital Participation: Launch of Report

Wednesday 30 April 2014, 9.30am to 11.00am

At the Informatics Forum, University of Edinburgh, 10 Crichton Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9AB

You are cordially invited to the launch of the final report of the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s Inquiry, Spreading the Benefits of Digital Participation. The launch will take place on Wednesday 30 April at the Informatics Forum of the University of Edinburgh.

The Inquiry has gathered evidence throughout Scotland and across the public, private and third sectors on Scotland’s transformation to a digital society. What are the potential societal benefits of digital? What are the barriers to realising these benefits? And how do we ensure that the benefits are spread to all parts of society? Our interim report, published in December, set out our emerging conclusions and recommendations on overcoming the challenges of affordable access, lack of motivation and lack of skills to get online. Consultation on that report has allowed us to refine recommendations in those areas. To this we add: what are the responsibilities of a digital society for creating an environment in which the benefits of being online are not outweighed by the risks?

Our final report presents a picture of digital exclusion in Scotland today and touches on developments in the use of digital in different aspects of Scottish life, from communities, learning and culture to the public sector, the economy and civil society.

The key findings and recommendations of the Inquiry will be presented by Professor Michael Fourman, Chair of the Inquiry, and Professor Alan Alexander, Co-Chair and RSE General Secretary, followed by Q&A. The presentations will commence at 10.00am, with refreshments available from 9.30am. We hope that you are able to join us. I would be grateful if you would confirm your attendance by email to slennox@royalsoced.org.uk , no later than Monday 28 April.

Kind regards

Susan Lennox

Royal Society of Edinburgh

22-26 George Street,

Edinburgh

EH2 2PQ

Spreading the benefits of digital participation

Last year the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) launched an enquiry entitled ‘Spreading the benefits of digital participation’. About ten evidence submissions were sent in from the Library and information sector in Scotland, including the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland (CILIPS) and the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC). I submitted evidence as chair of the community of practice, Information Skills for a 21^st Century Scotland, and there were some seven other evidence submissions from individuals including members of the community of practice.

All these evidence submissions were ignored in the report and libraries are only briefly mentioned on p.49. There was a high level of consistency in the submissions with much of the evidence focusing on information literacy although it is nowhere mentioned in the report.

An analysis of the references cited in the interim report show that none of them are drawn from the LIS literature. This, despite the fact that two evidence submissions (John Crawford and Bill Johnston) contained citations which are more than adequate bibliographical cues for the report authors. Ian McCracken also raised concerns with the RSE regarding the very limited nature of the questions it was posing.

The draft report is primarily concerned with access and infrastructure issues and motivation. Issues of training and skills development are insufficiently considered.

The contention is that had evidence from the LIS sector been considered the interim report would have been much stronger, especially in respect of training and skills development. This applies particularly to the SLIC evidence. The report authors themselves say, p. 4:

‘...our final report will evolve considerably, particularly in elaborating recommendations that address the key challenges.’

The recommendations in the interim report are too general and do not challenge the Scottish government to achieve specific skills development targets for clearly identified stakeholders groups nor are there recommendations on the content and costing of programmes beyond a rather vague suggestion for refresher courses for teachers.

On the 24^th of January, John Crawford, Ian McCracken, Bill Johnston and Abigail Mawhirt met Gillian Daly at the SLIC offices where it was agreed that both SLIC and the Community of Practice would submit responses to the Royal Society of Edinburgh, expressing disappointment that their evidence had been ignored and making practical suggestions as to how the final report could be improved.

This has been done and SLIC staff has also had a positive meeting with representatives of the Committee overseeing the production of the report and RSE staff. The RSE’s initial reaction to the Community of Practice’s response has been conciliatory and assurances have been given that the final report will give due weight to the role of libraries in spreading the benefits of digital participation. CILIPS has also submitted a response. We await the appearance of the final report which is to be published ‘early in 2014’.

The report and contact details may be found at

http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/advice-papers/inquiry/RSE_DI_Inquiry_Interim.pdf

John Crawford

Cross Party Group on Digital Participation meeting 10.12.13 and a Happy New Year

I attended the Cross Party Group on Digital Participation meeting at Holyrood with Jenny Foreman on Tuesday 10^th December.  Sorry about the delay in posting but I was overcome by festive season sloth and I am only just recovering. The meeting was on the theme of Digital Participation in the workplace with two speakers and there was also a presentation on Digital Inclusion and Disabled consumers.

Digital Participation in the Workplace: the first speaker was Gordon Scobbie, the former Assistant Chief Constable of Tayside who spoke about the use of social media by police officers to support community policing and improve relations with the public. He emphasised that Twitter supports two way communication and that most of the activity and contributions to social media are of a positive nature. Interestingly the most trusted tweeters are celebrities not public servants.

Ian Watson from IRISS (Institute for Research and Innovation in the Social Sciences) spoke about the role of social media in workplace learning and how organisations should encourage the development of digital literacy across the entire workforce but that lack of basic skills is a barrier to progress. Another barrier identified is the suspicion among organisations that staff will misuse electronic media leading to the blocking of websites.

The ensuing discussion certainly got me thinking about the importance of information literacy methods in evaluating the quality of social media communication given the unstructured and positively anarchic nature of some of it. Social media communications should be evaluated just like any other information source using the critical strategies available.

A briefing paper was supplied by Ofcom on disabled consumers’ ownership of communication services. This has been found to be generally lower among people with a disability than among those without, especially for Internet access. Home PC ownership is lower among disabled than non-disabled people. Disabled people are also less likely to access the Internet outside the home or via mobile devices. People with multiple impairments are the most disadvantaged.

The meeting concluded with a discussion about developments in the US which could affect the accessibility of Kindles and other e-readers. Amazon and Sony have asked the US regulator, the Federal Communications Commission, whether they can opt out of new legislation requiring various communication devices to be made accessible. The Group hope to address this issue.

After the meeting Jenny and I had a chat with Ian Watson who has agreed to attend our next meeting on 14^th May.

John Crawford