Councils Euro award for improving peoples lives

A REFUGEE from civil unrest in Zimbabwe, a wife caring at home for her sick husband and a community focused around a local mosque all have benefited from a European award-winning project that brings technology to disadvantaged communities.

This ground-breaking work by Milton Keynes Council is being held up as an example for other local authorities to follow after landing a top honour at the E-inclusion awards held as part of a European Ministerial conference.

At the awards to promote digital and social inclusion held in Vienna, 28-year-old Adrian Mugochi told his story about how he was starting a new life in Milton Keynes after escaping from the violence tearing Zimbabwe apart.

He described how his aspirations to become an author had been hampered by not having the cash to afford a computer until he became aware of a scheme run by the council to offer loan computers that also came with software provided by Microsoft at a fraction of the normal price.

I am working on my first novel and previously it was very difficult for me to do, said Adrian, who has now got a literary agent to further his future writing career.

I’ve done a lot of work longhand but it’s not easy writing 80,000 words down on pads and pieces of paper, but thats what I had to do. The PC gives you a wide range of choices and chances to get ahead. For me its been about my career and progressing with my life and its been a very useful tool.

Milton Keynes Council is the first local authority in Europe to be authorised by Microsoft to provide computers preloaded with the XP operating system and the Microsoft Office suite of software costing about £3 each under a social licensing agreement.

This agreement aims to supply Microsoft software to disadvantaged communities through local authorities, charities and other community groups. As well as helping Adrian, the council has placed computers throughout the community including in a mosque and in the home of Sharon Woolrich, who had to give up work to care for her husband diagnosed with bowel cancer. She said: It is a brilliant scheme in my eyes. Being a 24-hour carer is sometimes hard, so to be able to lose myself for a couple of hours has helped to get the brain working again. I simply could not cope without it now.

The award also recognised the council had not just one initiative but many projects to deal with the barriers to accessing technology that many disadvantaged groups confront.

Head of IT and e-Government at the council, Steven Jewell, said: This is not just about awards but recognises the work that is genuinely helping to improve and change for the better the lives of the people of Milton Keynes and ultimately lives across the UK and Europe.

Councils Euro award for improving peoples lives The councils winning team celebrates receiving the top European award.

Initiatives praised by the award judges included: - A low cost Wimax broadband solution for the city
- A PC loan/rental service for socially deprived and ethnic minority families
- Digital Service Centres offering free Internet access and ICT training based in community facilities, such as places of worship and family centres
- Implementing innovative avatar technology on the council website
- Home medical monitor to act as an early warning sign to alert doctors and nurses to residents developing serious illnesses

All these initiatives come under the Connect MK/Digital MK projects that were set up to help create a digitally and socially inclusive modern city