Local council commits £120,000 set-up funding

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council has begun the process of setting up a Digital Inclusion Alliance and has dedicated £120,000 of funding to establish a collaborative collective of organisations and individuals.

Last summer the authority held a workshop bringing together 40 representatives of local public sector organisations, businesses, community groups, and not-for-profit bodies to explore the possibility of establishing a Digital Inclusion Alliance. The intended goal of such an initiative is to improve the digital skills of residents of the Greater Manchester town and ensure that they get the most out of online resources.

The alliance also wishes to boost the digital credentials of local small businesses and charities, while creating a “digitally able workforce”. The collective will bring together digital experts from a number of sources across Stockport, including businesses, local government, schools and colleges, voluntary organisations, and community groups.

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After gathering and assessing feedback from attendees of the workshop last year, the council has now decided to press on with the creation of the alliance, and has issued a contract notice looking to find organisations wishing to take part. Some £120,000 has been set aside by the council to fund the creation of a Digital Inclusion Alliance for Stockport, and to invest in some of its early programmes of work.

“Set up funding.. is expected to provide sufficient funding to establish the Aaliance and then initiate collaborative working across partners,” the council said. “The alliance will use the funding to work towards becoming self-sufficient as an organisation, with its primary purpose to develop a collaborative approach to reducing digital exclusion in Stockport. However, some of the initial funding may be allocated to delivery of specific initiatives. An end date for the contract has not been provided as this work is expected to continue well beyond the initial funding period.”