Since March 2020, with the massive impact of C19 on our service, we have successfully embedded measures to improve our digital capacity. We rapidly purchased refurbished staff laptops and installed Wi-Fi into all of our refuges for service users to maintain their support and children?s online learning.
Staff and users are eager to continue to use online communication and have reduced resistance to using technology. But our current digital infrastructure is woefully inadequate to achieve our digital aspirations.
A robust digital infrastructure would help us:
1 Develop an intranet for staff to improve the quality of inter-services working and communication; and a separate platform for service users to access outside support education, housing, jobs and benefits.
2. Use the intranet for staff in-house training and sharing of changes in the DV field to better serve their clients in the refuges, legal and counselling services.
3. Overhaul LBWP?s website to improve the quality of referral pathways with other services and promote LBWP?s work to a wider audience.
We will use the funding and mentor support to:
? Engage expertise to consult with staff and users to redesign the website
? Get advice and improve our cloud-based office telephone system that supports office and remote working
? Develop a platform to maximise users? input and co-production on LBWP?s work
? Incorporate staff training on software packages, cybersecurity, digital safeguarding, and best practices
? Upskill our ICT/digital support manager to sustain this work
? Secure digital platforms to provide better continuity of support when users move on (legal advice, counselling)
? Incorporate Translation Software for users who need it
? Ensure that we have the correct level of Cybersecurity software to protect clients? sensitive data across all platforms
We need advice and resources to upgrade our current digital infrastructure to achieve these aspirations. We are cognizant of the need to super-secure our intranet due to the extremely sensitive nature of our work.