Session: Building Inclusion through Participation and Access to Services
Balvinder Heran will present an overview of the Virtual District Programme, their partners and the issues faced by people living in rural areas. Specifically Staffordshire will provide examples of their work with communities using the following examples:
- Deprivation Mapping – Using GIS technologies to identify areas of need and then pro-actively and intelligently targeting services. Working with both public sector partners and the voluntary sector on a wide ange of projects.
- Extending Web Access – Offering communities their own voice through involvement and participation in self managed community websites. Also discussing the use of social networking tools such as twitter, facebook and YouTube to broaden audience choice.
- The Hub@Blackwell – an ICT enabled rural village hall offering personal internet access, access to public services, basic ICT training and more formailised courses. Run by the community on behalf of the community.
Biography
Balvinder Heran has been at Stratford-on-Avon District Council since 2004, initially Head of e-Government she is now Head of Change and Performance. Balvinder has worked throughout on issues of Digital Inclusion, and has been a board member of the DC10plus since the Authority reached the final 10 of the Digital Challenge competition is 2007 with its ‘Virtual District’ project and public sector Virtual District Partnership. The work to achieve the vision of the Virtual District has culminated in Stratford on Avon District Council receiving a Beacon award in March 2009 for the Digital Inclusion theme.
Prior to working for Stratford, she worked for Cherwell District Council in North Oxfordshire and Warwickshire County Council.
