Hackney,
07
June
2018
|
10:06
Europe/London

Mayor to launch digital advisory panel as part of London Tech Week programme

Hackney Council is celebrating London Tech Week by hosting a series of events that will help shape its future digital direction.

The events, which will draw on the significant local digital expertise in the borough, are aimed at helping to continue to improve the Council’s digital services and develop digital opportunities for Hackney’s residents and businesses.

The week will see the launch of the Mayor of Hackney’s new Digital Advisory Panel, which will help the Council benefit from the knowledge of local digital experts, shape its digital direction and help identify ways to improve digital services.

Hackney’s innovative local digital employers are also being asked to help shape the Council’s digital apprenticeships programme (part of Hackney’s award winning apprenticeship scheme) to make sure that people who graduate from the programme can go on to successfully develop their careers in the sector.

Other events include a Dementia Friendly Hackathon aimed at developing apps to support those with dementia; a Government Digital Service and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government digital roadshow event to promote digital collaboration between local councils; and a startups ‘open house’ event, run by Jobbio and Open House in partnership with the Council, to provide access to Shoreditch’s startups for job seekers and investors.

Philip Glanville, Mayor of Hackney
I’m really excited by London Tech Week, in which we’re asking local people to work with us to help shape our digital services for the future.

The Council has made great digital progress over the last few years, for example, our online rent account service, Pay My Rent, has been used more than 46,000 times since it was launched in September 2017 and has helped reduce phone calls to the neighbourhood contact centre by more than 20 per cent, but there is more to do.

I’m launching our digital advisory panel so we can open up the work the Council is doing to improve its digital services and learn from the digital expertise among Hackney’s residents and businesses.

We’re also asking local business to come in and help shape our new digital apprenticeships to make sure that they provide a great experience for local people and equip them with the skills they need to forge a career in the industry. We know that it can often be challenging for young people to find the best place to start their careers in the technology industry and we want to do everything we can to make sure that Hackney’s apprenticeships open up opportunities for them within the sector.
Philip Glanville, Mayor of Hackney

Find out more about the events:

For more information on the Council’s digital work, visit https://hackit.org.uk/.