Apply now to secure funding through the LGA Digital Pathfinders Programme

Phoenix can help you to secure up to £20,000 in funding through the Local Government Association Digital Pathfinders Programme.

Deadline to apply: 10^th September 2021.

As digital strategies are accelerated throughout the public sector to meet the demand for digital transformation and enable your residents, employees, and local businesses to access your services at all times, digitalising your council’s processes quickly and securely has become essential.

To back councils in delivering this, the Local Government Association (LGA) Digital Pathfinders Programme is offering councils funding of up to £20,000 to improve digital inclusion, digital connectivity, and cyber security.

However, you only have until 12pm on Friday 10^th September 2021 to apply, so you must act fast! Phoenix will support you to shape your bid with our digital inclusion and cyber security applicant support packages that are specifically designed to drive the objectives of the programme and enable you to address challenges in your local area. Explore the specific applicant criteria for this year, and our digital inclusion and cyber security applicant support packages below.

LGA Digital Pathfinders Programme 2021 criteria 

Focusing on sustainable change within communities, proposals that consider the scalability, sustainability, and transferability of the project, as well as technical innovation will be prioritised for funding this year. Your council must be able to demonstrate how its work will present a positive example to other organisations within the sector.

For a chance to secure funding, your project proposal should meet the following criteria:

• Focuses on local need and involves local people and partners
• Demonstrates how it is innovative and emerging in one of the three challenge areas
• Uses and creates evidence about what works well to address local need and are scalable to other councils
• Delivers a sustainable impact beyond the period of the funding

Phoenix Digital Pathfinders support packages

To help you meet the criteria for your application, Phoenix offers two support packages as detailed below.

Digital inclusion package

Objective: to increase digital skills in your community

Phoenix offers remote training workshops for your key employees, including frontline officers (customer services, benefits, and housing), those in education, healthcare, and those working in other community settings (e.g. libraries, Citizen Advice Bureau). Following the workshop, your trained officers are equipped with the skills they need to proactively support citizens who find using technology and digital services challenging.

The workshops will focus on:

• Accessibility skills
• Dictation services
• How to support colleagues and citizens to use technology with more confidence

We also recommend that other key partners and the third sector, who may be able to help you reach those who are digitally excluded, also attend a training workshop.

Phoenix will also support you to create a digital hub and ‘how to’ guides for digital skills that can be used to support your community, including videos and written guides, which are easy for the public to access and use. Content topics could include – for example – how to access the internet, how to access digital services, basic use of email, CV writing, and virtual interviewing skills.

Digital inclusion support package pricing for councils

*Recommended max 20 people per workshop

Cyber security package

Objective: to support local businesses with cyber security

Phoenix offer various remote training workshops to support your local businesses and community groups:

Cyber awareness workshops: staying safe online

Your council can select local businesses, community groups, and residents to take part in a cyber safety workshops that share advice on how to stay safe online and how to recognise cyber risks – including how to identify suspicious emails, texts, and social media posts, and what to do when a risk is identified. We also recommend that officers within your community and business growth teams attend a workshop.

Improving cyber security workshop

Local businesses can easily become targets for cyber criminals without the right cyber security strategy in place. To support them to improve their cyber security, give them the skills they need to minimise risks with a series of workshops to help them understand how to successfully approach online security. Designed for business leaders, these workshops will explore topics such as business strategy and IT improvements; the main risks to the business; the skills they have available to them; and where to get started.

Cyber Security Incident Response Plan (CSIRP) build workshop

In a digital world with an ever-evolving threat landscape, it’s not a matter of if but when will my organisation suffer a cyber-attack or data breach. Having a tailored incident response plan in place can lessen the impact of a cyber attack and will help you navigate your way out with the tools and information required to remain compliant. An accredited Phoenix governance risk and compliance consultant will build a bespoke document tailored to citizen-facing businesses, with easy-to-follow steps to refer to in the event of an incident.

In addition, Phoenix will also help you to create an online cyber safety hub and digital content (a mixture of videos and written guides) that can be used to support your local businesses and citizens. You may also find these useful for educators in schools to use as part of their lesson planning.

Cyber security support package pricing for councils

*Recommended max 20 people per workshop

Please contact your Phoenix account manager to discuss our applicant support packages, or to explore the LGA Digital Pathfinders Programme and how to secure funding in more detail. For more information, please email [email protected] or call us on 01904 562200.