Join our Digitally Confident Scotland event!

“You can’t get out of homelessness these days if you are digitally excluded” “You can’t have a conversation about how to do things better, without digital emerging. You can’t stop it.” I’ve heard these two statements at events over the past few weeks, from prominent leaders in the Scottish third sector. They sum up why it is so critical that charities are able to embrace digital change. We’ll be celebrating all the great work going on across the sector on 23 October at Digitally Confident Scotland. I know the word digital can be off-putting for some people, so we need to get past the word, and look to the benefits, for example:

• Encouraging someone who is too anxious to talk about feeling suicidal to start the conversation with a text message
• Increasing the diversity of a board by holding some meetings virtually so that people don’t need to travel
• Equipping frontline support workers with tablets so they can record their case notes in real time and reduce the time spent typing up notes in the office
• Having a conversation with staff about what technology they use at home, and stoking their enthusiasm for using these skills in the workplace

This type of change has been happening across Scotland for years. Some charities are further along the journey than others, but most organisations have started to grapple with the opportunities and potential. If you have been part of advocating for new ways of work, or new digital tools you are a CHANGEMAKER. We want to hear from you, to learn more about what you have been doing – what has gone well and where you have hit challenges. By sharing our experiences and digging into complex issues around cyber security, ethics and culture change we can all change more quickly, and for the better. To join us at Digitally Confident Scotland register here.