Wednesday 7 December 2005 10:29
Office of The Deputy Prime Minister (National)

DIGITAL CHALLENGE £9 MILLION ANNOUNCED TO DRIVE ICT INNOVATION

The 'Digital Challenge' - providing the opportunity to create a world class exemplar of a "wired up community" - was launched today by Minister for Local E-Government Jim Fitzpatrick. The challenge is to use technology to transform the face of services, including local and central government services, to better meet the needs of local communities - including the most disadvantaged.

Government and Industry have provided more than £7 million, to be given to the Digital Challenge winner, as well as ten regional finalists who will each receive £200,000.

The successful bid will need to provide evidence of a highly focused and effective partnership of public, private, community and voluntary sectors. It should also make a real and significant change for the local community as quickly as possible.

Jim Fitzpatrick, Minister responsible for Local E-government at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, said:

"I am very excited by the Digital Challenge - it has the potential to bring real change to peoples lives through the innovative use of ICT. It will also act as beacon for service providers, government, and the rest of the ICT community on how they can make a real difference to ordinary people's lives.

"I look forward with keen interest to see what kinds of projects will be developed as part of this challenge. The Digital Challenge will drive forward improvements in local services and in local e-government which are at the core of ODPM's work."

Digital Challenge has the potential to make a real difference to people's lives, providing streamlined access to local government services, through a variety of channels. We look to the winning bid to meet three fundamental requirements:

Empowerment - The winning bid will be able to show how they will use ICT to give new choice, voice and empowerment to citizens; it should be about enabling citizens to participate in their communities, as well as gaining access to services.

Service Transformation - This must demonstrate radical innovation in changing how we offer services to people - using ICT to transform the whole way a service is provided; used and experienced.

Efficiency - Local Authorities must show that after year one their initiatives are sustainable and cost effective and be prepared to showcase these to other local authorities in years two and three, acting as the UK exemplar.

It has gained support from across government including ODPM, Department for Heath, The Department for Educations and Skills and the Department for Trade and Industry.

Notes to Editors

1. Who can apply?

• The Digital Challenge is open to any local authority within England as this is an ODPM led initiative. The Devolved Administrations are considering whether to run similar schemes.
  We welcome and encourage proposals that will seek to encourage strong partnership between local government departments, industry and voluntary and community organisations.

2. Who will be running this scheme?

• The Digital Challenge is administered by the Corporation of London.
  The Corporation supports the work of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's Social Exclusion Unit and the Local e-Government Unit in managing the process. They see their role as bringing local authority and business understanding to the Challenge, whilst being exempt from the Challenge themselves.
  The Challenge board is the Joint Government Executive Group made up of representatives from participating Government departments and will be responsible for the final recommendations to Ministers on the Challenge.

3. The time-scale

• The initial proposals are to be returned to the ODPM by April 28th 2006 via the Proposal form which is within the Digital Challenge prospectus and available electronically only from http://www.digitalchallenge.gov.uk
  These will be judged initially through regional panels who will decide which proposal represents the best vision for their region. These regional winners will be announced in June and given a cash award of £120,000 from ODPM and will encourage further investment from Industry of c£ 80,000 in goods and services. There will also be additional time to develop a fuller proposal to be completed by December 2006.
  The Digital Challenge winner will be announced in January 2007 and will be expected to start the full implementation of their vision by April 2007. The Winner will receive a minimum of £3m from government, including £1m from DoH, £1m from Dfes and £750,000 and £250,000 from ODPM and DTI respectively. Industry have committed to matching this with at least £4m in cash or discounted goods and services.

4. How long will they be given Digital Community status?

• The 'winner' will have three years in which to establish itself as the exemplar Digital Community by 2010. This must include establishing their vision by year two and acting as a showcase for other local authorities in order to share learning and experiences. They must have demonstrated effective and beneficial change by 2010.

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