Project Management

Paul North & Margaret Robson

 

Origins Structure Going Live
Development Objectives Future developments

 

Origins

Any partnership with multiple participants will have a number of origins.

For many the origin will be marked by the change between an attempt to deliver services with an occasional contribution from digital technology, to a view that sees digital technology as a constant consideration and tool in everyday life.

Perhaps what is unique in Shipley is that the attempt was made, from the outset, to connect up all the partner agencies and bring along this area as a universally connected community. This scale of activity has brought Shipley’s organisations, together, to the information society.

Indeed the arrival of our joint on-line work is probably the essential divider between then and now.

There were a number of overlapping developments which, between them, provided the synergy for the project to happen and drove the project forward.
Shipley East Regeneration A strong local commitment to community development Development of Bradford Local Action Plan

 

 

 

Origins -Shipley East Regeneration

What is perhaps significantly different in the last 3 years is Shipley East Regeneration. This began as a significant package of measures aimed at tackling the deep-seated economic and socially related problems of Shipley East.

Phase 1 provided not only significant resources via Europe, but also organisational capacity via the Shipley East Regeneration Office to secure European Structural funds through a community led process of regeneration. Importantly it demonstrated that regeneration from match funding drawn from local service providers across organisations, was viable

A skills audit of the area was one of the component projects of Shipley East Regeneration Phase1, along with a programme to facilitate adult educational and careers guidance.

As the Skill Audit was completed and the guidance work drew to the end of its project life, discussion developed aimed at providing a greater unity of approach from these "components". to provide a more focussed approach for the benefit of the public.

The search for a more integrated response to service delivery, and the potential for IT to deliver data to both professionals and residents were apparent.

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Origins- A strong local commitment to community development
The project was able to benefit from a history of partnership working in Shipley East and existing community centre activity. This meant that some familiarity with joint working and its compromises and benefits already existed and there was a readiness for community centres with well established user bases to work alongside less developed centres.

 

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Origins-Development of Bradford Local Action Plan

A number of working groups had been established District-wide to forward the development of the Bradford Local Action Plan, which was to provide the framework for European funding under Objective 2 for the period 1997 – 1999. At two of those meetings – the Training and Labour Market Group and the Community Economic Development Group, a number of themes were emerging :

The lack of awareness of local labour market trends

 
The need for better overall information and communication about provision

 
The need for a more systematic approach to matching job opportunities to skills development in Priority 5 communities ( evidenced by a history of jobs going outside the area because the skills base was not there in the community).

 

 

It was clear that an integrated information and communications system could help address these weaknesses and that ICTs had a clear role to play.

A proposal was formulated for the Objective 2 Training and Labour Market Group for the development of an information and communications technology initiative to address some of the weaknesses identified. This would be locally based in Shipley East but would have implications for District wide initiatives.

A project model was developed as a basis for consultation. This included:

Development of local Web site, including information on job vacancies, training opportunities and so on.

 

Provision of Internet access in community centres

 
0utreach based community guidance

 

This work could build on the online learning which had already been piloted by Shipley College in 1997 with three centres. This pilot involved On Demand Information Plc, the company responsible for the online learning who later became the significant private sector partner in the project and an important source of technical expertise. ODI later became IMS Ltd and were responsible for the technical development of the Web site.

 

 

 

 

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Development

The developments were essentially driven by locally-based regeneration activity, local commitment to ICTs and enthusiasm and interest from all the parties involved rather than being the product of an overall strategy, although there had been discussion about the need for/ possibilities of a District –wide framework.

A meeting was held in June 1997 for interested parties working both in Shipley and District - wide to explore the potential of the idea and discuss how what was by then being called the ‘Shipley pilot’ could link to other initiatives and a wider framework of ICT initiatives. It was clear that working at area level was the best way forward, ensuring an achievable community-led approach, building on a strong history of partnership working in the locality. This could then act as a pilot for wider transfer across the District.

 

A series of meetings was held over the next 6 months (from July – December 97) to develop the ideas, gain commitment of partners and build support.

Significant among these were :

Meetings held with local community centres, Bradford Training Access Points, EASA and Careers, Bradford and District TEC and Yorkshire Cable.

 
The Employment Services agreed to work with us to put job vacancies online – a crucial part of the development. Issues to be resolved included screening of applicants, data protection, technical issues and who claimed the targets.

 
Support from Bradford and District TEC was instrumental in bringing Yorkshire Cable into the partnership – a vital piece of the jigsaw which brought about a package offered by Yorkshire Cable ensuring 4 hours per day Internet access in each centre for an upfront payment of £30 per month.

 

The collective existence of these components locally enabled the amalgamation into a coherent linked whole – what was to become the start of Shipley Communities Online.

 

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STRUCTURE

1.To manage the developments and work towards an ESF bid, a Coordinating Group was established in the Autumn of 97 comprising representatives of TAPS, EASA, ES, Careers, TEC,Community Economic Development Unit of Bradford Council, Shipley College and Shipley East Regeneration. The Council were to act as lead partners and the Shipley East Regeneration Office and Shipley College were to share the coordination, and work up the bid which was submitted in February 98, almost nine months after the initial idea had surfaced. The Coordinating group met regularly throughout this period and before any funding was available to support the activity.

 

2. The bid gained endorsement from the Shipley East Regeneration Board and local endorsement through the District-wide Objective 2 planning process from the Priority 5 Community Economic Development Group and the Training and Labour Market Group, being finally endorsed by Bradford Congress as part of a package of bids to be forwarded to Government Office.

 

3.Once approval was given in 1998 the work started in earnest and a project management structure was developed. A project Steering Group was established involving senior staff from the main District –wide partner organisations. A project management structure was established to facilitate day to day running of the different aspects.

The Coordinating Group as such ceased to meet as a group but was heavily involved in three sub groups – Guidance and Skills Audit Group/ Information Development and Employer Community Liaison,each convened by one of the Coordinators with partner organisations represented on each one and other organisations coopted to these groups as necessary. It was these groups that worked out the detail of the project.

Regular partnership meetings were held approximately every two months to drive the work forward, involving all the partner oganisations.

 

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OBJECTIVES

The aims of the first phase was to use new technology to develop a commonly agreed transferable procedure for supporting local people into jobs.

Objectives were to :

Provide Internet access in community access to allow for fast data access and communication to support local people into jobs

 

Develop a local Web site

 
Provide training to Centre staff in Internet, email and Web page design

 
Provide opportunities for guidance and skills audit in community centres

 
Provide online learning in key skills in the community centres

 
To develop links with local employers and SMEs

 

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GOING LIVE

The launch of the Web site took place on October 5 1998, in the presence of the local MP Chris Leslie who ‘switched on’ the connections and successfully e-mailed messages of congratulations, including one from the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown and from sister organisations in the community networking movement, with whom we had already started to establish contact. – Brixton Online, Newham Online and others.

Shipley Communities Online was born.

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FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS

As the project has developed the initiative has deepened into a potentially exciting pilot for a wider community networking initiative. The partnership seminar held on 30th September gave a glimpse of the potential for ICTs to underpin a range of other strategic agendas and link to wider planning frameworks. The project is set to receive ERDF funding for Phase 2 of Shipley Communities Online. The aim of this phase is to build on Phase 1 to increase access to and awareness of the Information Society by creating the necessary ‘critical mass’ of residents online to create a connected community in Shipley East.

 

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