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LocalGov Digital rebooted

LocalGov Digital has come a long way in four years. From an idea at LocalGovCamp, to a meeting of council officers at the Local Government Association, to an established group to seeking to improve council web provision, to a network of people creating better, cheaper, local public services, it's been quite a journey.

With next to nothing LocalGov Digital has led the creation of innovations that far better funded organisations have come nowhere near. LocalGov Digital created the Local Government Digital Service Standard (LGDSS) with the help of the Government Digital Service which is being adopted by a growing number of councils. Unmentoring is joining up people across the country and Pipeline is helping councils collaborate and that's just three of many.

But more needs to be done, and faster.

You can only get so far on good will and limited capital through sponsorship, so we're proposing LocalGov Digital becomes a community co-operative that everyone with an interest in thinking, doing and sharing to improve local public service provision can be a part of.

A more formal organisation means you can become part of something real; something tangible. It means the co-operative could bid for funding and it means that whether you work for a council, central government, the private sector, or yourself, you can get involved.

LocalGovCamp could become the co-operative's Annual General Meeting and the network’s regional peer groups would become local membership meetings. The co-operative would ask for a donation of £1 form each individual who wants to be part of the co-operative.

It seems in four years no formal organisation can or will be the change that's needed, so we're proposing LocalGov Digital will.

There are more details here and we need to hear your views, so please do tweet or blog about what you think or let us know through emailing feedback@localgovdigital.info.


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