Session: Do IT now!!
Stephen Dodson is national director of the DC10plus network, and advisor to government departments on inclusion and innovation.Stephen will highlight successful Digital Inclusion projects from across the country and the way that these can be rolled out more widely. Stressing the importance of using IT to address the wider issues of social exclusion at all levels.
Stephen will share the platform with Sue and Steph from North Lincolnshire who are at the heart of the e-Mentoring pilot programme which has been extending mentoring for children in care and care leavers to web and e mail based communication for children aged 14-20.
In looking at the latest statistics on Internet take up and considering the barriers there still are to entry, Stephen considers the issues on connectivity, content and collaboration that face us. Drawing on his unique experience of working at grassroots level, across local Government and with Central Government this will be an entertaining and informative session.
Biography
Stephen current roles include: the National Director for the DC10plus (Digital Challenge) Network; advisor to CLG's Digital Inclusion Policy Team; BIS's Innovation Forum; Cabinet Office – Channel Shift; DCFS/Becta-Home Access programme. He is also a member of the Broadband Stakeholders Group and the OfCom led Digital Participation Consortium.
Previously Stephen has worked within local and central Government for twenty years in a variety of capacities. He has been responsible for several large scale Economic & Community Regeneration and e-Government Programmes.
Stephen programme managed two of the former ODPM’s National Projects - Digital Interactive Television and the Mobile Text Project before moving to Communities and Local Government (CLG) as the National e-Innovations & Digital Challenge Programme Director in September 2004 and was responsible for delivering the local government e-innovations programme and the National Digital Challenge Programme.
Stephen has also been actively involved as an adviser to cross-government and departmental policy on innovation and social inclusion, including the Social Exclusion Unit's "Inclusion through Innovation" , the Audit Commissions review of innovation in Local Government, "Seeing the light" and more recently contributing to the Digital Inclusion Action Plan and the European Union's 'Ethics and e-Inclusion' and is working on the pan-government innovation programme – "The Key".
