We work with more local authorities than any other kind of organisation. We know the financial and social pressures they face and the crucial importance of embedding digital inclusion across their organisations.
What we offer...
- We have two main training products.
- Inspire is a one-off digital inclusion awareness course for everyone across the council - from strategic leads to team managers to customer facing and admin roles.
- The Digital Champions Network is training for any staff or volunteers who need to help residents with digital motivation, confidence and skills.
- Both are quick to implement, flexible to scale and come with a ready made framework to set up and go.
- Both have built-in, easy to use monitoring & reporting tools to evidence impact.
- Both are CPD accredited so you know the learning is worthwhile.
The Digital Champions Network
Our clients range from County Councils with hundreds of Digital Champions to smaller initiatives, where Champions are in specific locations like libraries. The Network can be used as part of broad wide remit to increase digital skills, or have specific goal - like helping a targeted minority group. The Digital Champions Network is ideal for local authorities because:
- It’s scalable, adaptable and flexible. Almost every authority delivers digital inclusion in a different way, with different priorities and staffing. Our super-flexible platform allows you to tailor the training for different Champions or grow the project and manage users as you need them.
- We have tiered levels of project management so you can have sub-projects within a cross-council project, each with its own managers and reporting. We currently have one council that has 40 sub-projects under one umbrella.
- You can evidence it works with built-in, easy-to-use reporting tools.
- It's excellent value for money: you can help someone become digitally confident for around £4 a person.
- It's sustainable: you can grow a network of champions that lasts beyond short term funding rounds and uses existing resources (like libraries) to deliver.
- Champions can be staff or volunteers or both, as co-ordinating with the third sector becomes ever more vital.
- They can help colleagues or residents or both, as workforces need help with digital skills too.
- Many Authorities have service users with complex needs. We have resources to help users with extra barriers to entry, like memory problems, dexterity issues, or low levels of English.
There's lots more about the Digital Champions Network here and how it can help local authorities.
£4
What it can cost to teach a resident sustainable digital skills on the DCN.
£9.47
is the average return on every £1 invested in digital inclusion.
£1.4bn
potential government efficiency savings through improved digital uptake.
Inspire
Everybody in a local authority needs to understand what digital inclusion is and how it impacts the organisation and the residents it serves. Too often, councils consider digital inclusion too late - which wastes money and resource that could be targeted to vital areas of need. Our short, interactive training course...
- Is designed by Local Authorities for Local Authorities. It was co-created with a group of councils and from its data management tools to its sample roles, it's based around the capabilities and challenges of a local authority.
- Quick and simple and standardised - completed in a single session as eLearning or in a workshop. Both versions are CPD accredited.
- Supported by a ready-to-go framework, so it's easy to set up and has in built monitoring tools to evidence impact.
- Designed to change behaviour. You don't just need people to do the course, you want them to change the way they think and behave. Inspire encourages meaningful actions pledges to get learners tackling the digital divide.
- Dovetails with the learning on the Digital Champions Network. So those in frontline roles can go on to do more in-depth training and work with those in need of more help.
There's lots more detail about Inspire here and how it can work for local authorities.
Our Digital Champions are an invaluable resource for the local community and are helping our residents to lead a better quality of life through the benefits of digital. In turn this engagement will help the whole borough to fulfil its digital ambitions.
Christopher Hutson
Waltham Forest
Brent Council
Brent has an "every contact counts" policy. All front-facing staff are Digital Champions, with responsibilities written into their contracts.
Kent County Council
Supporting existing schemes and creating new ways to run 500 volunteer Digital Champions.
Nork Yorks Digital Inclusion Project
Helping 40 voluntary organisations to help their beneficiaries with digital.
Barnet
Barnet's two-pronged approach to driving digital inclusion.
Wembley Library
Libraries at the forefront of digital inclusion. "It's all going good!"
Southhampton
Directly managing volunteers to deliver digital skills sessions.
Creating content
We made a short course for the West London Alliance, which is a group of seven London-based councils. They wanted something initially about social tariffs but ultimately, as it's a complex topic, about finding all kinds of affordable internet for residents. Here's more about how we created the course together and how it evolved during the process.
It sits on the Digital Champions Network but they've generously made it free to everyone.
Co-developing Inspire
We created a version of Inspire for public sector organisations with public sector organisations. Working with the digital inclusion teams at Essex, Kent, Barnet, Cambridgeshire, Newham and the University of Keele, we adapted and refined the course so that it could meet the challenges of turning large organisations digitally inclusive across the board, in a way that felt relevant at every level.
With their expertise and enthusiasm, we co-created something we know will work. Inspire for the public sector launched in February 2025 and these six are the first to roll it out across their organisations.
