Scottish Borders Council

Agenda item

CPP - Making a Difference

Consider how the CPP is making a difference.

Minutes:

10.1     Connecting Scotland

Frances Eniede, SBC Programme Manager, and Clare Malster, SBC Strategic Community Engagement Officer, gave a presentation on the Connecting Scotland programme.    Details were given on the background to the programme including devices for those digitally excluded and on low income, and connectivity and support.  Organisations had been invited to apply for devices on behalf of individuals they supported, and individuals could apply directly, and organisations then took on the role of digital champion to provide assistance to individuals.  In the Borders so far, 765 devices had been obtained in phases for vulnerable people.  The programme had been very popular, and over-subscribed with a shortfall of 641 devices from applications.  A wide range of organisations in the Borders had participated and they needed to ensure they had enough organisational capacity to provide champion support.  Clare Malster gave an insight into being a digital champion.  Ms Eneide explained that there had been some delays in getting devices delivered and a global issue relating to the supply especially of chrome books.  Each phase of the programme that had been rolled out had only had a certain allocation for the Borders which had all be taken up.  Jenni Craig confirmed that this had been a really excellent example of partnership working in trying to understand collectively what needed to be done and then tapping in to the funding.  As everyone was looking at services coming out of Covid, it was likely these would focus more on digital.  The officer group would look for further funding to see if any gaps could be closed.

Noted.

 

10.2     Internet of Things

Nile Istephan, Eildon Housing, gave a presentation on the digital future currently being worked on at Eildon, including community wi-fi provision; the “internet of things”, deployment of devices, and intelligent use of data; and digital transformation of services.  In terms of community wi-fi, this was now considered an essential utility.  Eildon had engaged with Social Telecoms and had been piloting community wi-fi within supported housing services (sheltered housing and independent living places).  There had been excellent feedback so far and this would be rolled out further in 2021/22.  The main focus was it was cheaper than the market, a reliable service, with the additional benefit of it being a stable, high quality wi-fi, which was able to be used operationally as well.  The main challenge was that all customers were charged whether they wanted the wi-fi or not so care needed to be taken in implementation to give tenants advice notice regarding their existing bundles/packages.  In future, this would be looked at in terms of general needs homes, new builds or the wider community.  In terms of the Internet of Things (IOT), Eildon involvement was two-fold:  to support the creation of IOT in the Scottish Borders so there was good coverage to facilitate practical use of this technology; and deploy IOT devices and support to care for customers, as well as caring for property assets.  This was an exciting and fast-moving area with many other applications for Community Planning partners.  The demography and rurality of the Borders meant that this was probably more important and more of an opportunity in the Borders than elsewhere in Scotland.  It was a Scottish Government backed alternative network to broadband and the cellular network with improving coverage.  Eildon was assisting by allowing its assets to host ‘gateway’ devices.  Security was built in as reassurance for users.  A range of commercial devices already existed and was growing e.g. Alexa, Siri, IOT enabled white goods.  While there was a lot of opportunity, the challenge was how to intelligently use these devices and combine them to meet the specific needs of the end users/households/organisations.  The IOT programme was being supported through the Civ Tech programme and Eildon had submitted the problem to this programme of how best to enhance infection control for vulnerable people in residential based services.   Eildon was working with Wallscope to develop a product called CLARE, which used commercially available existing sensors, linking them to data already held by Eildon and providing a user friendly, intuitive interface.  Details were shown of where sensors were located within a property and how this interacted with the needs of the tenant in terms of health and care plans.  Once this had been further tested and refined, it could be rolled out further.  Eildon was also looking at a new build green pilot using IOT devices to help evaluate different green technologies, using building management solutions for environment management, health and safety, and component performance.  This experience could then be shared with partners across the Borders and beyond, including further developing the care support options. 

Noted.

 

Note:  Ms Hamilton, Prof. Griggs and Ms Mulloy left the meeting.

 

10.3     BAVS/BHA PROJECT

Michelle Meldrum, Berwickshire Housing Association, presented details of a project “Let’s Get Digital Berwickshire” which had been funded through the Scottish Communities Fund.  The aim was to support digital inclusion during the pandemic and a pilot digital lending library had been established.  A number of partners had been involved in this – Border Care Voice, BAVS, Chirnside Village Hall, Splash, Coldstream Community Centre, and SBC Local Area Co-ordination team.  Fifty devices with unlimited SIM connections had been purchased and distributed and all had had an offer of support from Digital Champions.  Early results had been promising with a steady uptake from the community, with devices primarily used to keep social contact, but also looking for employment opportunities, applying for jobs and for educational purposes.  The next steps included reflecting on how the world had changed, with digital inclusion now a key priority for communities.  Work was underway exploring options for longer term sustainability and also to join up with other similar projects. 

Noted.

 

Supporting documents:

 

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