The document discusses Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council's transition from analogue to digital services and engagement. It notes that local print newspapers are declining while social media use is rising. The council is taking initial steps to engage residents digitally through social media, online services, and open data. However, the document acknowledges that not all residents have caught up digitally yet and the council needs to prepare support and training to help with the transition to come. The overall aim is to have an organization that can use all digital channels for two-way communication.

1. Local Government:
Analogue to Digital
Blackburn with Darwen Borough
Council in the 21st
century

2. Out with the old?
• Accrington Observer being produced in
Manchester
• Burnley Express production moving to
Preston
• Lancashire Telegraph circulation down to
28,000 & falling
• Proposed restrictions on number of issues
of local government ‘newspapers’
permitted

3. Digitally appropriate?
• 54% of 18-24’s have social networking
profiles they use regularly
• Facebook estimates reach for
Blackburn/Darwen of approximately 60,000
• Population of Blackburn/Darwen is 137,000
at last census
• 45% of borough’s housing considered
‘unsatisfactory’

4. Digital Inclusion
• 490,000 public sector jobs to go
• Central government pushing for all
transactions to occur online
• Local government transactions, including
paying Council Tax, wrapped up in this
• Online transaction costs 27p. Telephone
£3.22. Face to face £6.56. Src: Nesta/Socitm
• Free platforms, free tools, open source code

5. Baby steps
• 1-2-1 engagement with individual influencers on
Twitter
• Online reading groups run by the library/social
media workshops
• Facebook groups for Council run
services/entertainment (Darwen Festival,
Darwen Leisure Centre)
• Broadcast Twitter streams
• Using ‘events’ days such as National Poetry Day
to make broadcasts interesting
• Internal blogs

6. Fear of the future
• Have we always allowed people to talk
back?
• Fear of what will happen if floodgates
opened
• Value in preparing workflows before that
happens
• What are we expecting people to say?
• We have to talk to people on their
preferred channel

7. Building the paths for the future to
walk
• BWD Winter (maps, GPS, Facebook,
Twitter, Met Office, schools)
• Advertising our groups & streams
• Graffiti Flickr
• YouTube videos
• Town Centre website
• External blogs
• 100 Voices
• Social media grids

8. Digital avalanches
(Generation Y)
• Digital immersion a given
• Digital expectation of service or will go
elsewhere
• Democratic services engagement
• Crowd sourcing planning
• Open data/mash ups
• The NHS – opening a can of worms
• Reliable, flexible, transparent, personalised,
stable, integrated framework as a hub

9. Analogue to digital?
• Will take time for residents to catch up
• Preparing for the moment they do
• Experimenting with innovation & creativity to
change the way we deliver our Services in an
age of austerity
• Providing training & incentives to assist in take
up
• Aim: All channels open to 2 way communication
within an organisation designed to use it

10. Analogue to digital?
• Will take time for residents to catch up
• Preparing for the moment they do
• Experimenting with innovation & creativity to
change the way we deliver our Services in an
age of austerity
• Providing training & incentives to assist in take
up
• Aim: All channels open to 2 way communication
within an organisation designed to use it