Digital

New start to focus on digital participation in social housing

May 27, 2016 by Scott McLear No Comments | Category Digital Public Services

The Digital Participation team has been working with Housing Associations to improve digital participation among social housing tenants. Recently they have engaged a Digital Consultant through the Digital Transformation Service to provide specific support and assistance for the sector. 

Doug Melville has come from working with the Australian Government in their Digital Transformation, most recently in Maritime and Aviation Safety where he worked on user focused services, business case development and with third party providers developing service offerings for government clients.

In the past he has worked with the Australian Government Information Management Office, the ‘Networking the Nation’ initiative, and with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation building digital skills in rural communities. Before moving to Australia, he spent some time working with the homeless in Glasgow and Dundee.

One of his first priorities will be to develop a coordinated picture of the many existing and planned activities across the sector, from digital workshops to major connectivity investments. By identifying opportunities for collaboration, and learning from others in the sector, this should improve outcomes and efficiency.

In parallel with this; Doug is familiarizing himself with the wide range of digital resources available, from the recently developed Digital Toolkit, funded by Digital Scotland, to connectivity offerings for social enterprises. Along with specific digital resources, there are also third party organisations, government, commercial, educational and third party engaged in building digital capability across Scotland.

Many of these resources; organizational, technical, and individual, were not developed, trained or designed specifically for use in housing, so understanding the needs of the sector and identifying how they can be applied to meet those needs will be a crucial part of the role that Doug plays.

For many currently working in Social Housing, ‘Digital’ is often identified with technology, Doug will support the process of identifying digital opportunities, and help Social Housing get the best outcomes by helping to refocus on services designed for, and with, the user.

With the widely varied nature of organisations, priorities, resourcing and skill levels across the sector, there isn’t a simple ‘one size fits all’ answer, but there may well be a range of answers that can be re-used..

Over the next few months, Doug will be hoping to meet many of those working across the sector to understand  the specific interests, as well as any concerns he can help with. If you would like to contact him you can email Doug at the following address doug.melville@gov.scot

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