Summary Notes

Summary of key Issues / Challenges From Working Groups (April 4, 2008)

Barriers to the successsful Adoption of ICT
Attitudinal The perceived lack of relevance of ICT within the target communities was the key barrier to inclusion identified. Fear was also identified as a significant barrier.

Awareness Related to the attitudinal barrier is the lack of awareness of the benefits of ICT and information in relation to how much it already is a part of peoples lives

Physical Adequate physical access to computers was identified as another key barrier.

Financial Related to the physical barrier is the identified financial barrier namely the cost of computers/ internet access/ technical support

Specific There was strong feedback from the round table discussions in relation to the need to understand and respond to the particular barriers experienced by specific target groups – women, young people, older people

Educational Issues
ICT needs to be integrated into all educational opportunities
The focus needs to be on skills for life, and delivery of training needs to be flexible, and of immediate relevance
There needs to be strong collaboration between all stakeholders (education providers and the community sector)
Poor literacy skills need to be addressed, and the use of jargon needs to be minimised
Provision of courses/ training is not enough – it is imperative that there is appropriate technical back up for individuals, families, and those working in the community sector
In education provision there needs to be a move towards learner driven approaches, a move from teaching to resourcing/ facilitating


Resources
Resource needs to adequately respond to the issues raised by the research were identified by schools, adult education providers, and community centres
Volunteers were identified as a possible key resource, as was the corporate sector.

Common Ideas/ Emerging Themes
1) There was strong feedback that the Limerick Community ICT Steering Group will need to learn from others – for example to contact those involved with the Ennis experiment
2) A key focus of the response needs to be focussed on the attitudinal barriers – the need for fun approaches to demystify and show the relevance and benefits of ICT to target groups.
3) The response will also need to identify and respect that some people will choose not to engage with ICT
4) There needs to be a creative approach to revisioning ICT education provision with increased emphasis on informal, flexible, and immediately relevant training that is cognizant of literacy needs and that minimises jargon without dumbing down the content.
5) Appropriate access to computers within the community with adequate technical support needs to be planned, resourced and delivered.
6) Responses to the issues and needs identified will best be developed with a collaborative approach between the education, community and corporate sectors
7) Financial resources will need to be identified to respond to the issues and needs identified

Next steps
The information gathered during today will used to further explore the issues identified and to develop the key strategic responses to the issues and challenges identified in the research. Engagement will continue through this blog and through updates at each of the four breakfast meetings. Your feedback will help us shape and develop the startegic plan.