Gearing up for One Digital

I’m the most recent addition to the One Digital project team at SCVO. I had an inspiring first week, including a knitted beard, a trip to London and getting to grips with some new digital tools like Slack. Now that we're into 2016, it's a good time to speak about our plans. The One Digital project has grown out of all the hard work led by the SCVO digital team over the past two years. We know that one in five people in Scotland - that's a total of 800,000 individuals - struggle with basic digital skills.

We really want to understand what works and use this knowledge to help design and source funding for the future

We also know that many of these people are already being supported by charities and voluntary organisations. The internet is for everyone. It's not just a way to share photos of baby animals or post pictures of your lunch. Digital is now part of the fabric of our society. Projects supported by the digital challenge fund have shown the impact it can make. Take the Digit All project in Argyll and Bute, for example: “Skype in particular was a popular choice for people to learn … keeping in touch with family is very important, especially to older people and being able to communicate and see each other was something quite special when people were connected for the first time.” One Digital is a partnership between SCVO, Digital Unite, Age UK and Citizens Online. We are working closely to deliver projects that will help a wide range of individuals develop their basic digital skills. Our projects share a common approach by aiming to support people who are trusted by their communities to act as digital champions. They'll include staff and volunteers from across Scotland’s third sector. We aim to provide training for people from over 600 organisations to feel more skilled and confident about using digital. They will then pass these skills onto the people they support. This is set up as a test and learn project. We really want to understand what works and use this knowledge to help design and source funding for the future. You can get more information on the SCVO digital website. Our sector is here to support people, to campaign for change and to make Scotland a more equal place. All of us have a responsibility to make sure we do this in the most efficient and effective way. In 2016 that means we have to feel confident and comfortable with digital. I’m really looking forward to learning from and being inspired by colleagues across Scotland over the next few months as we get One Digital up and running. If you have any questions you can find me and the team here or on Twitter. Beth Murphy, Project Manager Madeline Stark, Development Officer South Eilidh Little, Development Officer North Jo Malo, Project Administrator