The State of the South West?
March 27, 2007 Posted by Clare in : Digital Challenge, Bristol, South West region , add a commentAccording to a new report, the people of the South West live longer, enjoy the lowest rates of reported crime and unemployment, and give more of their time to social, civic or volunteer activities than the rest of England.
The region also has the fastest growing population in the country - driven entirely by people moving into the region, with more than half of those newcomers leaving London and the South East.
It is not all good news however: the sunny climate means there are 27% more deaths from malignant melanoma and people in the South West spend proportionally more on motoring and services provided by local authorities are financed by a higher proportion of council tax than the national average.
The State of the South West 2007 report provides a comprehensive picture of region’s people, economy, environment and social make up. The report was co-ordinated and produced by the South West Observatory Core Unit and can be read on www.swo.org.uk.
Digital Neighbourhood Watch Launched in Henbury
March 23, 2007 Posted by Stephen Hilton in : Digital Challenge , add a commentSafer Bristol has just announced a six-month pilot of an e-enabled neighbourhood alert scheme. Henbury neighbours and traders will trial Alert Boxes, which can be programmed with the owner’s name, address and telephone number. Each householder or trader then has the option of issuing a warning, by pressing an orange button - alerting neighbours, for example, to a bogus caller or any suspicious behaviour - or, by pressing another button, calling for assistance.
More details here
Judges' Feedback on Connecting Bristol Bid
March 21, 2007 Posted by Stephen Hilton in : Digital Challenge , add a commentPaul McGohan is a member of the DFES Transformational Government Team. He has been involved with the Digital Challenge at Government level since the start and sat on both judging panels. He was keen to provide our feedback, as he has been a “big fan of Connecting Bristol ever since our first presentation”.
These are Paul’s key feedback points (which I have checked with him):
- Absolutely nothing wrong with the bid!
- We scored above half way - near the top
- Whilst both our presentations were good - Paul felt that our second presentation was more sober and ‘projecty’ than the first and that consequently, we lost some of the energy, creativity, passion and vision that had stood out so clearly when we made our first presentation
- The judges were generally impressed by the extent of our community engagement; they liked our flexible working hub idea, sustainability/environmental focus and mentoring (Makala was seen as the role-model for all future mentors)
- They liked the way the vision was presented but needed to understand more about how the projects linked together to form a strategy that would realise the vision
- The judges felt that the Leader stood out as having genuine understanding of the issues and that the authority was really committed to making the bid happen
- Paul urged us to keep going and not to give up
- Paul is looking at ways to bring digital inclusion projects together more effectively within DFES. He is happy to stay in touch with Bristol as things develop.
I have also received some feedback from another judge, Jon Drori, who said, “On a personal note, one of the things I found most impressive about the Bristol bid was the enthusiasm and real sense of community on the day that I visited. That large group of people, drawn from so many local organisations was really something”
I am sure Jon won’t mind me sharing this.
WARNING: Some Idealist thoughts…..
March 19, 2007 Posted by Shawn in : Digital Challenge , 1 comment so farCongratulations to everyone in Bristol who worked together to produce & support this bid. I say congratulations rather than commiserations as this experience is evidence that, with the right focus, the city’s stakeholders can pull together to conceptualise ‘joined-up-ness’, and it is this approach that we must not lose sight of as it has been a valuable journey for us all.
The City can now take this opportunity to build on this experience to manifest the ‘joined-up-ness’ that we all know is needed to the benefit of the whole city. Of course the government money would have been great, but it is still something that can be achieved in the process of what we do anyway.
There is so much excellent examples of best practice happening in the city that Connecting Bristol continues to have a function even without the focus of the bid, as what we all strive for is sustainability, and one of the key factors of successful sustainability is open communication and future planning of activities and resources.
Where do we go from here? I would boldly suggest we just keep on going as if we had yet to submit the bid, and we plan and join-up for the future of the city - especially along the lines of education where the need is so obvious, and in “dislocated” communities where the need is becoming ever more apparent. I of all people know that without a looming deadline that the other everyday aspects of life can take over and things get forgotten and energy lost, but there is a real opportunity here to keep the connection and consultation ongoing rather than letting it dissipate in disappointment, as the problems we said the bid was going to address won’t evaporate just because the government’s computer said “no”.
To be truly joined-up and connected, somehow let’s keep on planning and acting to prove that we aren’t only driven by bids, but also by what needs to blatantly happen anyway. (Next bid….a permanent full time ’Connecting Bristol’ council post perhaps…..joining the dots in the city and encouraging Connections. Do you want to ask Barbara or shall I??? 
