LGA supports new APPG for digital communities
The digital age promises unprecedented opportunities for enhanced efficiency, service delivery and resident participation in society.
Yet, it also poses daunting challenges with budgetary constraints, outdated systems, and a lack of digital expertise delaying progress in local government.
With this in mind, the LGA’s Cyber, Digital and Technology (CDT) team recently launched a digitalisation framework to help guide councils through their own digital transformation journeys.
Despite challenges, there is much activity already under way to not only match community ambitions with emerging technologies, but to ensure that every place has access to the same infrastructure, connection and opportunities these offer.
The critical need to raise digital standards across the country is evident in both the economic growth and educational attainment potential. Yet there remain concerns about access and the reliability of access.
Rural areas continue to lag behind more densely populated areas in the roll-out of 5G, as well as wider infrastructure improvements.
Equally, businesses that are unable to pivot working models because of poor connectivity face the risk of being left behind, putting jobs on the line and impacting local economies.
Digital skills, equipment and reliable digital connectivity are all crucial to enable people to fully participate and engage in 21st century education and employment systems.
There is no better time than the present for the new Government to update the national Digital Inclusion Strategy – now more than a decade old – to reflect these needs and match innovative digital services.
Building on the parliamentary appetite to improve digital connectivity for residents, and following the launch of the digitalisation framework, the LGA approached LGA Vice-President and key digital advocate Helen Morgan MP (Lib Dem) with an offer to help form an all-party parliamentary group (APPG) to explore the digital needs of our communities.
And last month, the LGA, Helen Morgan and various other parliamentarians met in Westminster to hold the inaugural meeting of the newly created Digital Communities APPG.
The APPG aims to promote the delivery of digitally equipped places that support and foster a connected, healthy and productive community.
This includes the creation and maintenance of sustainable digital infrastructure and providing residents with equal opportunity to thrive in a digital world.
At the inaugural meeting, Richard Foord MP (Lib Dem), Alison Taylor MP (Lab), and Viscount Camrose (Con) were elected as officers, with Helen appointed as Chair.
The APPG will now work to produce its first report; one that will take stock of the current digital landscape and put forward recommendations to government on steps it should take to deliver digitally enabled councils, digitally empowered residents, and digitally equipped places.
Whether it is supporting residents reliant on telecare services or upgrading their own platforms and services to be fit for a modern economy, councils are the linchpin to convening stakeholders and unlocking the digital potential of our places.
The APPG will be a key driver in facilitating these discussions.
A website for the APPG is under construction and will be shared on social media in due course.
If digital connectivity is an issue in your area, we encourage your local MP to join the LGA’s new APPG.
- Find out more about the LGA’s work in Parliament