A last-minute reprieve has secured a potential future for Project Nomad (http://www.projectnomad.org.uk/) – an organisation supporting mobile and flexible working within local government – just nine days before its planned closure.
The project, initiated with government funding in 2003, had been due to cease all activities on 6 November after running into financial difficulties, though a rescue package had always been the hope for the project’s current host council of Cambridgeshire (see our previous report: http://www.headstar.com/egblive/?p=252).
All of the project’s operations will now be passed over from Cambridgeshire to two separate but linked sub-groups in England and Scotland: Nomad North and Nomad Scotland.
Ken Eastwood of Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council, chair of Nomad North, told E-Government Bulletin he has “brokered transitional arrangements with Cambridgeshire”. While new funding is yet to be secured, Eastwood said he is in discussions with potential partners and sponsors to ensure that Nomad in England is put on a “sustainable footing”. A local authority subscription service is also under consideration.
Meanwhile the chair of Nomad Scotland, Mark Baker of Aberdeenshire Council, told EGB the group North of the border “always has and will continue to be financially sound” through board support and sponsorship.
Eastwood, who has been a board member on Nomad since 2003, will take on the role of new UK lead for the combined Nomad programme, working with Nomad Scotland on a continuing national umbrella project, to be known simply as ‘Nomad’.
As well as continuing its previous work, the new incarnation of Nomad will look at expanding its membership. “I am particularly interested in exploring the opportunity to broaden the community to include all of the public sector”, said Eastwood. “I also hope to take Nomad into new and emerging areas and to get closer to the leading edge of technological and social innovation.”
This innovation will include an interactive online community – a platform is currently being built – and a new website, planned to launch on 1 January 2010.
NOTE: Article originally published in E-Government Bulletin issue 299.
Click here to visit/return to issue 299 index
