1 November, 2003
© Beep Knowledge System and case owners, 2002-2003
eGovernment
Executive summary of the case:
Timing of case
Fife Direct evolved from a project, which initially provided access to
employment service vacancies and limited other information in an intranet
system. Revision and further development started in 1999.
Geographic setting
Fife is situated in East Scotland. Fishing villages of great antiquity
dot the eastern coast. One of Scotland's most prosperous regions, Fife
has pastures and productive farmland in the central valleys of the Leven
and Eden and rich coal fields in the west and east.
Type and use of ICT
Key to the success has been the provision of live, continuously or regularly
updated searchable data. This is provided by web-enabled databases, updated
by the owners of the information, and made searchable according to customer
need. Search mechanisms were tailored to the local area, and other local
data sources can be integrated.
Main contributors
The website brings together resources from Fife Council, Scottish Enterprise
Fife, Fife Careers, Adult Guidance, Fife Opportunity Centres, Community
Education, CVS Fife and other public sector or community-based organisations.
Main beneficiaries
The partnership has developed 43 drop-in centres throughout the region
which ensure access for all citizens regardless of income or location.
Beneficiares are:
-Unemployed people in Fife
-People seeking further education or training/retraining
-School and college leavers
-Businesses in Fife
-People wanting to be more active in their own communities
-Minority groups
Background
In the Scottish region of Fife, an innovative project called Fife Direct
is bringing about online collaboration between public sector agencies,
and delivering services electronically to the public.
With an economy historically based on the coal mining, defence, agriculture
and fisheries industries, the Scottish region of Fife has suffered from
severe economic problems and high unemployment in recent decades. The
predominantly rural region has only a small number of employment centres,
and large numbers of the employed workforce commute into Edinburgh.
Despite some success in attracting inward investment in fields such as
electronics and call centres, the overall picture is one of limited opportunity
for local people and the persistence of serious disadvantage. The Council
and its economic development partners have placed a high value on access
to opportunity and have been willing to explore innovative avenues using
new technologies to promote social inclusion and economic opportunity.
Objectives
Fife Direct have a clear primary aim: to use the Internet and the new
ICT to combat social disadvantage in the Scottish region of Fife.
Within this over-arching aim are a number of specific objectives:
-To increase access to employment
-To boost learning and skills development
-To promote business start-ups and company growth
-To promote community participation
-To develop “Information Age” awareness and activities
-To contribute to the e-government and modernising government agendas.
As initially conceived, the focus was on the first two objectives listed above: the provision of jobs and learning opportunities is essential to combating social exclusion in the target groups and target areas. However, the development of local job opportunities by promoting company start-up and company growth - in particular in the “new economy” – is very important. Otherwise, the problems of disadvantage remain entrenched, as people acquiring new skills leave the area to gain work or further their careers.
Fife Direct is a pioneering "access to opportunity" website
bringing to Fife citizens:
- Jobs vacancies from the Employment Services
- Learning opportunities from local and national databases
- Business opportunities, with commercial property database and business
directory
- Opportunities for volunteering from database of local voluntary groups
- Opportunities for getting communities online.
In addition to the databases (continuously updated by the agencies involved)
there are pages of advice and information provided by local organisations
and pulled together by expert editors in each of the subject areas. Information
includes
- Careers advice
- Advice for school/college leavers in "Club 16-18"
- Community Education
- Sources of funding for businesses
- Business support services
- Community News
- Community group web pages
- Hundreds of links to useful websites
Resources (apart from ICT)
The website brings together resources from Fife Council, Scottish Enterprise
Fife, Fife Careers, Adult Guidance, Fife Opportunity Centres, Community
Education, CVS Fife and other public sector or community-based organisations.
The partnership, supported by European funding, has also developed 43 drop-in centres throughout the region to form the "Fife Community Network". In this way access to the Fife Direct website is ensured for all Fife citizens regardless of their income or location. The network already has high use and is delivering substantial benefits.
The technological solutions involved were deliberately kept as straightforward as possible, to allow ease of updating by the successor in-house team(s). Databases and other dynamic content applications were implemented using a combination of SQL (Structured Query Language) and ASP (Active Server Pages) code. To some extent these are generated by, or contained within, Microsoft FrontPage 2000 "wizards". In some cases, especially the database search pages, special ASP code has been written to achieve the necessary functionality. Microsoft FrontPage was chosen as it is relatively easy for users with little or no background in web publishing to learn the basics of editing and site management, particularly for people who are proficient in other Microsoft Office applications.
Activities
Developing the website involved:
-Substantial information mapping exercise, to ascertain information sources
available
-Analysis of customer needs and needs of front-line staff of agencies
involved
-Developing user-friendly design
-Technical development of platform and web-enablement of "live"
information sources
-Remodelling of some databases, and advising of the development of others
to improve internal efficiency and "web-friendliness"
-Continuing liaison with staff in agencies for feedback on design and
content
-Developing updating process
-Training for front-line staff, training for page updaters/editors, and
awareness-raising for management
-Preparation for public launch and handover documentation.
The phased handover included a "soft launch" as the old system was switched off and Community Network sites were set up to access the Fife Direct Internet site. This of course has the additional benefit that Community Network sites have now gained access to the Internet as a whole.
Key features of the website concept are:
-The 4 divisions of the site into Jobs, Learning, Business and Community
sections
-Focusing on customer needs, rather than organisational hierarchies or
divisions
-Whole-site navigation principles, including the "colour-coding"
to make for ease of navigation
-Use of open-standards and "off-the-shelf" technologies to make
the site future-friendly
-Using the website development to help bring the partner agencies up the
learning curve of using the new information and communications technologies.
Outputs and results
One of the most pleasing aspects of the project as it has developed has
been the amount of acclaim it has received from various quarters, both
within Fife and beyond. In many respects it is a unique project, bringing
together such a diverse range of socially useful and "inclusive"
range of information and services into a cost-effective delivery mechanism
via a single website. Fife Direct is the first website in Scotland to
bring job vacancies online, and the first to translate the SCOTIA database
of courses into a web-enabled format.
By analysing the success of the project it can be broken down into several
key areas of achievement:
-Achieving effective co-operation between the partners
-Drawing in other interested contributing parties
-Bringing online existing data sources, and enhancing their functionality
-Bringing individuals and partner organisations some way up the learning
curve of web development and electronic service delivery, adding new skills
and capabilities
-Creating enthusiasm amongst participants who will be taking the project
on in their areas of responsibility
-Creating greater awareness amongst managers of the potential of online
communications and service delivery.
In terms of content, Fife Direct successfully brings together:
-A wide range of resources from Fife Careers, Adult Guidance, Scottish
Enterprise Fife and the Employment Service to support job seeking and
career development
-A wide range of resources from Fife Careers, Adult Guidance, Community
Services and Fife Learning Information Services (FLIS) to support people
seeking learning opportunities
-A wide range of resources from Fife Council Economic Development Service
and Fife Enterprise to support business development and economic development
-A growing range of resources from CVS Fife (the voluntary sector), Fife
Council and individual community groups
-An extensive set of links in each section to local and national online
resources for opportunity, information and support
-An online search of current job vacancies, improved from the former system,
updated daily by the Employment Service
-Online searches for learning opportunities, through the national SCOTIA
database (modified for use on the web) which is updated quarterly, and
also through a tailored local search, updateable as required by FLIS
-An online property search, which include the ability to handle pictures
and a wider range of information
-An online search of businesses, updateable as required, working from
the current business directory
-An online search of voluntary groups, working from database supplied
by CVS Fife and Fife Council Corporate Policy
-A community forum allowing for greater participation by citizens of Fife
-An online feedback mechanism.
Lessons and conclusions
The most significant constraint on the project has been the readiness
of the agencies to move into a web-centric way of working. Existing data
sources are geared towards paper generation, and in the shorter term they
will continue to be used for purposes other than "talking" to
Fife Direct's web pages. It requires something of a conceptual leap, and
a change of established work culture and practices, for staff in the partner
organisations to include or prioritise web-focused working. However, significant
steps forward have been made in this regard.
The data sources for the database were to a large extent "given", and we had to work with them rather than remodel them. Database redesign would have been undertaken in an ideal world, and may form part of the next stage of development. The commercial property database is a pointer to the way forward for other data sources.
Many important data sources are not currently held in databases. Often the first time they are brought together is in a desktop publishing format for the quarterly or annual publication. Developing web-centric formats for these data sources would generate efficiencies internally for the organisations as well as making them easily accessible to external users.
Work processes in some parts of the partner organisations are not geared to operating over the web. We wished to make greater use of feedback forms etc, allowing customers, for example, to apply for courses, or for further details of vacancies, online. Although it would have been quite possible in principle to establish the necessary back-end processes, both technologically and culturally further evolution needs to occur in the relevant organisations before this is viable.
Essentially a number of compromises have been made with existing practices. The development of greater web awareness over time is required in the partner organisations if they are to maximise the potential of Fife Direct.
Fife Direct has been a remarkable project in many respects. In partnership, the agencies concerned have taken steps, which they have been very wary about taking individually. To the customers, the citizen of Fife, Fife Direct is already delivering services of value.
The organisations involved have taken significant steps up the learning curve, and over 200 frontline staff have received training in using the web as an essential resource for providing opportunities for their clients, some of whom are amongst the most socially disadvantaged in Europe.
A number of other local telematics projects (e.g. outreach work by community education developing IT skills amongst disaffected youth and mothers aspiring to return to work) were hampered by a lack of locally relevant content on the web. It is there now.
After the official launch of Fife Direct in May 2000, there has been
a period of consolidation while the partner agencies become more familiar
with updating processes and database publishing. This is one of the key
areas that new media projects like this need to address. A successful
web development project is only the beginning. Good procedures need to
be established to ensure regular updating and continued evolution. At
the outset there must be a plan for continuity - and a plan for future
funding.
In the longer term it is anticipated that Fife Direct will include more
transactional functions (such as filling in application forms online or
ordering/paying for publications online etc). It is also hoped that more
community groups will establish a web presence via Fife Direct, and that
areas not presently covered such as housing and health will also be incorporated.
In terms of social inclusion, it is clear the Fife Direct in conjunction with the Community Network is reaching parts that other initiatives by the agencies have not reached before. And an incidental, but important, lesson is that one should not adopt a technologically patronising attitude to the socially excluded.
There was meetings where well-intentioned people wanted to "dumb down" the site, or claimed disadvantaged groups would not be able to use a mouse, or would not know how to scroll down a page, etc. Users of Fife Direct have shown themselves to be very "web savvy". Many of them have IT skills and Internet awareness that would put most public or private sector managers to shame!
Clearly, the project has applicability in other parts of the UK and Europe, both in terms of effectively combating disadvantage, and in enabling governmental agencies to work more effectively together. All across Europe there are people seeking access to opportunities in employment, learning, business and community life. And there are public bodies, which have information, advice, services and opportunities that they need to "broadcast". A service like Fife Direct provides a single point of contact, an online "one-stop-shop" which is easy to access and easy to maintain. And as well as bringing organisations closer to their customers it can generate internal efficiencies by modernising business processes.
Bringing agencies together through the web is a cost-effective way of delivering services. The use of open standards means that the website is entirely portable, and developers are not tied to any proprietary systems, which could make costs prohibitive, or make the product too culturally specific.
The main message to take on board is this: agencies working in partnership do not have to wait to put in place high-level policies and strategies for web communications before they can deliver effective solutions to their clients. By focusing on the customers that the partnership serves, and adopting manageable, open standards technologies, there is much that can rapidly be achieved. The development process will feed back into partner organisations new skills and new awareness of ICT that might otherwise have taken much longer to develop.
The methodology used for developing Fife Direct has many advantages: user needs analysis, information audit, early and rapid prototyping, flexible techniques for adapting existing information sources, and techniques for updating and integration of component areas of the site. All these mean that other partnerships across Europe could rapidly bring similar services online, based on their own social context and their requirements for service delivery. And the model provides a framework for bringing local communities and not-for-profit organisations online.
Case description:
Background
In the Scottish region of Fife, an innovative project called Fife Direct
is bringing about online collaboration between public sector agencies,
and delivering services electronically to the public.
With an economy historically based on the coal mining, defence, agriculture
and fisheries industries, the Scottish region of Fife has suffered from
severe economic problems and high unemployment in recent decades. The
predominantly rural region has only a small number of employment centres,
and large numbers of the employed workforce commute into Edinburgh.
Despite some success in attracting inward investment in fields such as
electronics and call centres, the overall picture is one of limited opportunity
for local people and the persistence of serious disadvantage. The Council
and its economic development partners have placed a high value on access
to opportunity and have been willing to explore innovative avenues using
new technologies to promote social inclusion and economic opportunity.
The region of Fife in Eastern Scotland
Background - Key Factor: improved regional policy,
strategy and planning
The predominantly rural region has only a small number of employment centres,
and large numbers of the employed workforce commute into Edinburgh. Despite
some success in attracting inward investment in fields such as electronics
and call centres, the overall picture is one of limited opportunity for
local people and the persistence of serious disadvantage.
Background - Key Factor: improved regional governance
and institutional framework
In the beginning focus was on: provision of jobs and learning opportunities
is essential to combating social exclusion in the target groups and target
areas. However, the development of local job opportunities by promoting
company start-up and company growth - in particular in the “new
economy” – is very important. Otherwise, the problems of disadvantage
remain entrenched, as people acquiring new skills leave the area to gain
work or further their careers.
Background - Key Factor: improved regional economic
investment and performance
A wide range of resources from Fife Council Economic Development Service
and Fife Enterprise to support business development and economic development
are made available via the website.
Background - Key Factor: improved regional human
capital
-A wide range of resources from Fife Careers, Adult Guidance, Scottish
Enterprise Fife and the Employment Service to support job seeking and
career development
-A wide range of resources from Fife Careers, Adult Guidance, Community
Services and Fife Learning Information Services (FLIS) to support people
seeking learning opportunities
-An online search of current job vacancies, improved from the former system,
updated daily by the Employment Service
-Online searches for learning opportunities, through the national SCOTIA
database (modified for use on the web) which is updated quarterly, and
also through a tailored local search, updateable as required by FLIS
Objectives
Fife Direct have a clear primary aim: to use the Internet and the new
ICT to combat social disadvantage in the Scottish region of Fife.
Within this over-arching aim are a number of specific objectives:
- To increase access to employment
- To boost learning and skills development
- To promote business start-ups and company growth
- To promote community participation
- To develop “Information Age” awareness and activities
- To contribute to the e-government and modernising government agendas.
Objectives - Key Factor: improved regional policy, strategy and planning
The Fife Council and its economic development partners have placed a high
value on access to opportunity and have been willing to explore innovative
avenues using new technologies to promote social inclusion and economic
opportunity.
Objectives - Key Factor: improved regional governance
and institutional framework
Fife Direct is a pioneering "access to opportunity" website
bringing to Fife citizens:
-Opportunities for volunteering from database of local voluntary groups
-Opportunities for getting communities online
Objectives - Key Factor: improved regional economic
investment and performance
Fife Direct is a pioneering "access to opportunity" website
bringing to Fife citizens:
-Jobs vacancies from the Employment Services
-Learning opportunities from local and national databases
-Business opportunities, with commercial property database and business
directory
Objectives - Key Factor: improved regional human capital
In terms of content, Fife Direct successfully brings together:
-A wide range of resources from Fife Careers, Adult Guidance, Scottish
Enterprise -Fife and the Employment Service to support job seeking and
career development
-A wide range of resources from Fife Careers, Adult Guidance, Community
Services and Fife Learning Information Services (FLIS) to support people
seeking learning opportunities
-A growing range of resources from CVS Fife (the voluntary sector), Fife
Council and individual community groups
-An extensive set of links in each section to local and national online
resources for opportunity, information and support
-An online search of current job vacancies, improved from the former system,
updated daily by the Employment Service
-Online searches for learning opportunities, through the national SCOTIA
database (modified for use on the web) which is updated quarterly, and
also through a tailored local search, updateable as required by FLIS
-An online search of voluntary groups, working from database supplied
by CVS Fife and Fife Council Corporate Policy
-A community forum allowing for greater participation by citizens of Fife
-An online feedback mechanism
Resources
The website brings together resources from Fife Council, Scottish Enterprise
Fife, Fife Careers, Adult Guidance, Fife Opportunity Centres, Community
Education, CVS Fife and other public sector or community-based organisations.
The partnership, supported by European funding, has also developed 43 drop-in centres throughout the region to form the "Fife Community Network". In this way access to the Fife Direct website is ensured for all Fife citizens regardless of their income or location. The network already has high use and is delivering substantial benefits.
The technological solutions involved were deliberately kept as straightforward as possible, to allow ease of updating by the successor in-house team(s). Databases and other dynamic content applications were implemented using a combination of SQL (Structured Query Language) and ASP (Active Server Pages) code. To some extent these are generated by, or contained within, Microsoft FrontPage 2000 "wizards". In some cases, especially the database search pages, special ASP code has been written to achieve the necessary functionality. Microsoft FrontPage was chosen as it is relatively easy for users with little or no background in web publishing to learn the basics of editing and site management, particularly for people who are proficient in other Microsoft Office applications.
Resources - Key Factor: improved awareness of support
activities
The partnership has developed 43 drop-in centres throughout the region.
In this way access to the Fife direct website is ensured for all Fife
citizens regardless of their income or location.
Activities
Key features of the website concept are:
- The 4 divisions of the site into Jobs, Learning, Business and Community
sections
- Focusing on customer needs, rather than organisational hierarchies
or divisions
- Whole-site navigation principles, including the "colour-coding"
to make for ease of navigation
- Use of open-standards and "off-the-shelf" technologies
to make the site future-friendly
- Using the website development to help bring the partner agencies up the learning curve of using the new information and communications technologies.
Activities - Key Factor: improved consumer networks
Fife direct website brings relevant information and resources to citizens.
Information is thus handier and much more available.
Activities - Key Factor: improved use of knowledge
resources
Many important regional resources are available in one place from the
Fife Direct site. When developing the site, existing databases were web-enabled
in order to make their content more widely available.
Activities - Key Factor: improved networking between
support organisations
The Fife Direct site brings together resources to suppport: job seeking,
career development, learning opportunities, business and economic development
as well as on-line resources from the voluntary sector, the Fife council
and individual community groups.
Output and Results
One of the most pleasing aspects of the project as it has developed has
been the amount of acclaim it has received from various quarters, both
within Fife and beyond. In many respects it is a unique project, bringing
together such a diverse range of socially useful and "inclusive"
range of information and services into a cost-effective delivery mechanism
via a single website. Fife Direct is the first website in Scotland to
bring job vacancies online, and the first to translate the SCOTIA database
of courses into a web-enabled format.
By analysing the success of the project it can be broken down into several key areas of achievement:
- Achieving effective co-operation between the partners
- Drawing in other interested contributing parties
- Bringing online existing data sources, and enhancing their functionality
- Bringing individuals and partner organisations some way up the learning
curve of web development and electronic service delivery, adding new
skills and capabilities
- Creating enthusiasm amongst participants who will be taking the project
on in their areas of responsibility
- Creating greater awareness amongst managers of the potential of online communications and service delivery.
In terms of content, Fife Direct successfully brings together:
- A wide range of resources from Fife Careers, Adult Guidance, Scottish
Enterprise Fife and the Employment Service to support job seeking and
career development
- A wide range of resources from Fife Careers, Adult Guidance, Community
Services and Fife Learning Information Services (FLIS) to support people
seeking learning opportunities
- A wide range of resources from Fife Council Economic Development
Service and Fife Enterprise to support business development and economic
development
- A growing range of resources from CVS Fife (the voluntary sector),
Fife Council and individual community groups
- An extensive set of links in each section to local and national online
resources for opportunity, information and support
- An online search of current job vacancies, improved from the former
system, updated daily by the Employment Service
- Online searches for learning opportunities, through the national
SCOTIA database (modified for use on the web) which is updated quarterly,
and also through a tailored local search, updateable as required by
FLIS
- An online property search, which include the ability to handle pictures
and a wider range of information
- An online search of businesses, updateable as required, working from
the current business directory
- An online search of voluntary groups, working from database supplied
by CVS Fife and Fife Council Corporate Policy
- A community forum allowing for greater participation by citizens
of Fife
- An online feedback mechanism.
Output and Results - Key Factor: improved use of
networks for collaboration.
The online collaboration between various public sector agencies has made
the partners take steps which they were wary about taking individually.
Output and Results - Key Factor: improved regional
economic investment and performance
In terms of content, Fife Direct successfully brings together:
- A wide range of resources from Fife Careers, Adult Guidance, Scottish
Enterprise Fife and the Employment Service to support job seeking and
career development
- A wide range of resources from Fife Council Economic Development
Service and Fife Enterprise to support business development and economic
development
- An extensive set of links in each section to local and national online
resources for opportunity, information and support
- An online search of current job vacancies, improved from the former
system, updated daily by the Employment Service
- An online property search, which include the ability to handle pictures
and a wider range of information
- An online search of businesses, updateable as required, working from the current business directory
Lessons and conclusions
The most significant constraint on the project has been the readiness
of the agencies to move into a web-centric way of working. Existing data
sources are geared towards paper generation, and in the shorter term they
will continue to be used for purposes other than "talking" to
Fife Direct's web pages. It requires something of a conceptual leap, and
a change of established work culture and practices, for staff in the partner
organisations to include or prioritise web-focused working. However, significant
steps forward have been made in this regard.
Many important data sources are not currently held in databases. Often the first time they are brought together is in a desktop publishing format for the quarterly or annual publication. Developing web-centric formats for these data sources would generate efficiencies internally for the organisations as well as making them easily accessible to external users.
Work processes in some parts of the partner organisations are not geared to operating over the web. We wished to make greater use of feedback forms etc, allowing customers, for example, to apply for courses, or for further details of vacancies, online. Although it would have been quite possible in principle to establish the necessary back-end processes, both technologically and culturally further evolution needs to occur in the relevant organisations before this is viable.
Essentially a number of compromises have been made with existing practices. The development of greater web awareness over time is required in the partner organisations if they are to maximise the potential of Fife Direct.
Fife Direct has been a remarkable project in many respects. In partnership, the agencies concerned have taken steps, which they have been very wary about taking individually. To the customers, the citizen of Fife, Fife Direct is already delivering services of value.
The organisations involved have taken significant steps up the learning curve, and over 200 frontline staff have received training in using the web as an essential resource for providing opportunities for their clients, some of whom are amongst the most socially disadvantaged in Europe.
A number of other local telematics projects (e.g. outreach work by community education developing IT skills amongst disaffected youth and mothers aspiring to return to work) were hampered by a lack of locally relevant content on the web. It is there now.
In the longer term it is anticipated that Fife Direct will include more transactional functions (such as filling in application forms online or ordering/paying for publications online etc). It is also hoped that more community groups will establish a web presence via Fife Direct, and that areas not presently covered such as housing and health will also be incorporated.
In terms of social inclusion, it is clear the Fife Direct in conjunction with the Community Network is reaching parts that other initiatives by the agencies have not reached before. And an incidental, but important, lesson is that one should not adopt a technologically patronising attitude to the socially excluded.
Clearly, the project has applicability in other parts of the UK and Europe, both in terms of effectively combating disadvantage, and in enabling governmental agencies to work more effectively together. All across Europe there are people seeking access to opportunities in employment, learning, business and community life. And there are public bodies, which have information, advice, services and opportunities that they need to "broadcast". A service like Fife Direct provides a single point of contact, an online "one-stop-shop" which is easy to access and easy to maintain. And as well as bringing organisations closer to their customers it can generate internal efficiencies by modernising business processes.
Bringing agencies together through the web is a cost-effective way of delivering services. The use of open standards means that the website is entirely portable, and developers are not tied to any proprietary systems, which could make costs prohibitive, or make the product too culturally specific.
The main message to take on board is this: agencies working in partnership do not have to wait to put in place high-level policies and strategies for web communications before they can deliver effective solutions to their clients. By focusing on the customers that the partnership serves, and adopting manageable, open standards technologies, there is much that can rapidly be achieved. The development process will feed back into partner organisations new skills and new awareness of ICT that might otherwise have taken much longer to develop.
The methodology used for developing Fife Direct has many advantages: user needs analysis, information audit, early and rapid prototyping, flexible techniques for adapting existing information sources, and techniques for updating and integration of component areas of the site. All these mean that other partnerships across Europe could rapidly bring similar services online, based on their own social context and their requirements for service delivery. And the model provides a framework for bringing local communities and not-for-profit organisations online.
Lessons and conclusions - Key Factor: improved
regional inclusion
The Fife Community Network is a computer network that enables people to
access information services and training from within their local communities.
Set up in 1997, the Network is now available in 37 locations across Fife
with dedicated computers accessible to the public within host sites such
as Council local offices, libraries, community centres, training organisations
and the four Fife Colleges.
As part of the Community Network, Fife Direct can be accessed at each
PC providing easy access to comprehensive Jobs, Learning, Business and
Community information. In addition at most Community Network locations
computers can be used to work on Multi media training materials to help
develop key skills such as literacy, numeracy and basic IT.
References and links
Published in E-business: Key Issues, Applications, Technologies
Edited by Brian Stanford-Smith and Paul T.Kidd
Presented at EC e-Work 2000 Conference, Madrid, October 2000 by Andy Lak
- HOP Associates.
www.fifedirect.org.uk
www.hop.co.uk
www.flexibility.co.uk
References and links - Key Factor: improved regional policy, strategy
and planning
http://www.fifedirect.org.uk/JobsDirect/Jobsindex.htm
References and links - Key Factor: improved regional governance and institutional
framework
http://www.fifedirect.org.uk/Learning/learningindex.htm
References and links - Key Factor: improved regional economic investment
and performance
http://www.fifedirect.org.uk/Business/index.htm
References and links - Key Factor: improved regional human capital
http://www.fifedirect.org.uk/Community/Communityindex.htm
Contact Information
Organisation: Fife Direct Project Manager
Name: Fife Direct Project Manager Ross Mackenzie
Address:
Fife Council
Fife House
Glenrothes
Fife KY7 5LT
UK
Telephone: +44 1592 416157
E-mail: ross.mackenzie@fife.gov.uk
Web: http://www.fife.gov.uk