Digital Strategy Glenelg and Southern Grampian Shires

Digital Strategy Glenelg and Southern Grampian Shires

engage2 teamed up with Geografia to help the Southern Grampians and Glenelg Shire Councils to develop a Digital Strategy that would help both Councils and their communities make the most of getting access to High Speed Broadband (HSBB).

With funding secured from Regional Development Victoria, the Councils commissioned us to engage staff, the community, and local businesses to assess current uses of digital technologies and identify social and economic opportunities that could be leveraged through access to HSBB. The Councils wanted to understand the potential for access to HSBB to fundamentally change the way they service and engage their community, how local businesses might develop their offering and get it to market, and how the community might use digital to interact with each other and the wider world. This was particularly important to the Southern Grampians Council who are members of the Australian Smart Communities.

We understood that having access to HSBB alone would not be enough to provide a positive impact. We supported the Councils in positioning themselves to best take advantage of this new resource with processes that demonstrated leadership and built capability. Engaging the community, industry and business in the process allowed us to assess and build their digital skills. We carefully mapped stakeholders, actively promoted engagement online and offline and used methods to reach people at the places where digital technology was already being used, and where capabilities might be built and access promoted. We also integrated innovative digital methods, showing Council, the community and businesses how to use proprietary data sets, social media and a range of online engagement methods throughout our process.

The resulting Digital Strategy defines ways Council can lead by example and support community members, businesses and industries adopt digital methods to service, connect and engage online and offline. The Digital Strategy positions the Shires to best leverage their access to HSBB for the benefit of the entire community. This work powerfully highlights the social and economic opportunities that regional communities might leverage through the use of technology and access to the internet, particularly when encouraging and fostering .

For more information on how governments are using digital technology check out Digital Government.