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Regeneration Through IT

The purpose of ICT in regeneration is not just to provide people in deprived communities with access to computers. It is to use ICT to address the real needs of those people and to try and improve their lives in a measurable way.

The general population has in the long term benefited from economic growth, improvements in technology and medicine, growth in access to further education, improved employment conditions and life expectancy. The communities in our New Deal Areas are an exception to this picture, and remain concentrations of deprivation and exclusion which represent an increasingly stark contrast to neighbouring communities enjoying prosperity and opportunity.

ICT is not a magic potion. Providing poor communities with access to computing will not automatically transform everyone's lives. It does however have the potential if used effectively, to make a contribution towards tackling the very serious problems confronting such communities and the various agencies working within them. Let us take as an example the New Deal Communities, which were identified according to the following criteria:

• Concentrations of unemployment
• Populations with low skills levels
• Poverty and debt problems
• Children underachieving in education
• Relatively high levels of crime - fear of crime
• Unhealthy lifestyles and low life expectancy
• High levels of alcohol and drug misuse
• Communities divided and isolated by deprivation

Thoughtful and imaginative use of Information and Communications Technology can make a valuable contribution, not just to addressing the digital divide, but to directly addressing these headline problems. Examples of how these can be tackled are outlined below:

• Employment

  Local employment initiatives, campaigns and support resources can be publicised online, local businesses can advertise local jobs to local people and link these to sources of information on benefits for the employed.
  

• Skills and Training

  Local agencies can promote their courses directly to local residents, new online training ideas can be developed and delivered, courses relevant to and/or linked to local employment opportunities can be advertised, local success stories can be shared.
  

• Poverty and Debt

  Local agencies working to alleviate poverty can promote their services, provide detailed comparisons of local lenders, and deliver confidential personal advice. Detailed information on the complete range of benefits and assistance available to a particular household can be accessed, and people can be linked to sources of advice and help. Local support networks can be encouraged.
  

• Education

  A local 'intranet' provides an environment to link schools and colleges to parents and students, enabling the development of a range of locally focused initiatives, from online homework clubs to anti-truancy schemes. Schools can provide information to - and establish contact with - parents new to the area. Specialist advice can be provided to local young people with particular educational needs.
  

• Crime and Community Safety

  The police service can provide advice to residents about local crime (such as criminals targeting particular areas/people etc), and residents can report crimes on-line. Information about victim support services can be provided. A local intranet can be used to distribute the signals from street level web cameras, CCTV, block level 'entry phone' systems etc.
  

• Health and Drugs

  The Health Authority can develop and promote screening campaigns. New services can be developed locally, like online appointment schemes with the local GP's surgery. A community website can promote and involve residents in local health campaigns (on diet, smoking etc). People can find information on local resources, programmes and contacts confidentially. Local agencies can run local online drug misuse campaigns.
  

• Community Cohesion

  New connectivity can include a community isolated from - but not unaware of - the facilities that the more affluent take for granted. Local community organisations can promote themselves and their activities positively. The community website can be a vehicle for sharing information and overcoming ignorance about minority communities.

Clicks and Links have recently developed a new venture with our partner GAIA; which seeks to provide solutions for some of these problems. We are currently involved with the Digital Challenge initiative. For more information, please visit the 21CC site.

To contact us for further information on the ideas above, please email us info@clicksandlinks.com