Up to 5,000 grassroots digital inclusion projects across England are set to receive a share of a new £30 million government fund aimed at helping people in all parts of society access public services online.
Projects have until 10 February to bid for a share of the fund ( http://bit.ly/5vP3Dr
). The project was first announced in a government report of December 2009, ‘Putting the frontline first: smarter government’ ( http://bit.ly/4nXhHQ ), which proposed ways of streamlining central government, moving more services online.
The cash is being allocated as a grant scheme by UK online centres, a network of more than 6,000 locations providing computer and internet access and support. Helen Milner, managing director of UK online centres, told E-Government Bulletin the projects should look beyond giving people internet access: “Getting online is not an end in itself – you get online in order to do things, and we need to make sure that people are supported, inspired and motivated to benefit from the flexibility and convenience of online government services.”
Members of UK online centres and other digital inclusion providers can apply for grants of between £6,000-£30,000 from the scheme, to run from 1 April 2010 until 31 March 2001. All projects must use the ‘myguide’ (http://www.myguide.gov.uk/) and ‘Online basics’ (http://www.onlinebasics.co.uk/) websites, designed to teach essential computer and internet skills to beginners.
NOTE: Article originally published in E-Government Bulletin issue 304.
Click here to visit/return to issue 304 index
