Podcast: Can data help families in the City Region escape poverty and social isolation?

The latest instalment in the podcast series between the City Region Deal's Data-Driven Innovation programme and the Scotsman examines how data can support families in the Edinburgh city region suffering from poverty and social isolation. 

A new project, the City Region Deal's Intensive Family Support Service, is harnessing data to ensure the benefits of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal - especially new job opportunities  - are fairly spread throughout society. 

Sarah Galey-Horn of the University of Edinburgh discusses how the new project is seeking to find great examples of family support, and to share that brilliant work across the region.  She is joined by Kate Kelman of the Capital City Partnership and Laura Millar from Fife Gingerbread to explain how data is used and how expertise is pooled to make the lives of families across the city region better. The panel also explore how the pandemic has changed their approach to tackling this issue. From Fife Gingerbread organising evenings for lone parents on zoom to parents building support networks online. 

To listen to the podcast, please click on this link.

Work Gets Underway on City Deal Project in Kirkcaldy

Fife’s flagship Industrial Innovation Investment programme has now begun construction work on seven single storey business units on land to the east of Midfield Drive, within Dunnikier Business Park, Kirkcaldy.

The modern buildings include solar panels and are located at an established and popular business location in the town, close to key transport links including public transport.  The units are scheduled for completion in the autumn, and will boost economic development opportunities within Kirkcaldy, and provide small business space to local enterprises with growth ambitions. 

The project is part of a wider investment programme, the Fife Industrial Innovation Investment (i3) programme, which will deliver new buildings and serviced sites across Mid and South Fife.  It will support the creation of 1,000 new skilled permanent jobs and almost 600 short-term construction jobs.  It also aims to attract around £30 million in private sector investment. This will be facilitated by joint working between the region’s universities, Fife businesses and Fife Council to deliver high value jobs. The programme is part of the £1.3 billion Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal, a partnership of local authorities, universities and colleges, and the Scottish and UK Governments to deliver a 15-year programme that will transform the regional economy.

Neil Crooks, Convener - Kirkcaldy Area Committee, Fife Council: "I am pleased that this project is now underway, and that Kirkcaldy is one of the first towns in Fife to benefit from investment from the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal. 

“Our focus in Fife is firmly on fairer economic growth, where everyone benefits from good employment opportunities.  I’m looking forward to seeing tenants getting in and getting going when these units are finished next autumn.  That’s what this investment is really about, supporting growing businesses that can invest in their workforce to create and sustain good jobs.  The properties themselves are being built with future challenges and opportunities in mind, so the companies locating here will have premises that can adapt with their business model.”

The Fife Industrial Innovation Investment programme will be delivered in three phases. Phase one, which runs until March 2022, includes projects Glenrothes, Kirkcaldy, Lochgelly, Dunfermline and Dalgety Bay and will deliver a mix of completed buildings to let and serviced land available for immediate investment by new or existing businesses.

Altany Craik, Convener - Economy, Tourism. Strategic Planning & Transportation Committee, Fife Council, added: “This project is the first visible sign in Kirkcaldy of the positive changes that the City Region Deal will bring to Fife.

“Through the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal regional partners will secure more than £1.3 billion of investment for the city region over the next 15 years.  We believe that this can create clear opportunities for genuine inclusive economic growth and investment in Fife. 

“The Deal focuses on growing the regional economy through collaboration and by being outward-looking, building on the region’s existing strengths in key sectors and industries. Our Fife Industrial Innovation Investment programme will increase the supply of serviced employment land and new industrial, office and business space in Fife.

"Through the wider City Region Deal Fife businesses will have increased opportunities to build-on the value they generate from their data by adopting digital technologies, and use this to create new products, and generate both new supply chain arrangements and new business models - creating and safeguarding jobs."

Leasing enquiries can be made to business.property@fife.gov.uk

Contact Information

Fife Council

01592 583312

Fifecouncil.news@fife.gov.uk

Doing Data Together - Ethical collaboration through Covid-19 and beyond Virtual conference

Friday 6 November 2020, 10am-4pm GMT

Register for the free-to-attend event: scotsmandataconference.co.uk

City Region Deal partner the University of Edinburgh will hold its third Data-Driven Innovation conference (held jointly with the Scotsman newspaper) on Friday 6 November 2020.

Join experts from inside the City Region, and beyond, to hear about the enormous challenges - and real opportunities - in our increasingly data-rich world.

Covid-19 is the first pandemic where the response has been truly data-driven, with real-time information at the heart of life-or-death decisions throughout the crisis.

How did Government, health services and other public bodies collaborate - often at great speed - to inform those decisions? What lessons have we learned to help us emerge from the pandemic and ensure we share and analyse data more effectively in future?

We’ll be addressing these and many other questions with an excellent programme of speakers, including:

• Ben Macpherson, Minister for Public Finance and Migration

• Professor Shannon Vallor, Baillie Gifford Chair in the Ethics of Data and Artificial Intelligence, University of Edinburgh

• Dr Kenneth Meechan, Head of Information and Data Protection Officer Glasgow City Council

• Professor Alexander Pentland, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Professor Devi Sridhar, Chair of Global Public Health, University of Edinburgh

• Timandra Harkness, writer, broadcaster and comedian

• Professor Jason Leitch, National Clinical Director, Scottish Government

The Data-Driven Innovation initiative is a key deliverable of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal, and comprises a network of innovation hubs that bring researchers together with businesses, charities, and the public sector, at the crossroads of data science, research, and real-world challenges – where exciting innovations can take place.

Register for free: scotsmandataconference.co.uk

City Region Deal help for family support services

Intensive family support services across South East Scotland are receiving a boost from the City Region Deal.

The Deal’s Intensive Family Support Service will help families in areas of chronic worklessness and poverty, bringing together the third sector and all six local authorities in South East Scotland with research expertise from the University of Edinburgh.

The first phase has launched in South East Scotland, covering Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian, Fife, Scottish Borders, and West Lothian.

Capital City Partnership has engaged leading charities Children 1st, Barnardo’s and Fife Gingerbread to partner with local authorities in delivery of the services.

Rona Hunter, Chief Executive Officer, Capital City Partnership, said:

The Intensive Family Support Service within the City Region Deal is a great opportunity to bring together a wealth of expertise and approaches across Edinburgh and South East Scotland to improve the lives and opportunities for a number of families. Harnessing local efforts under a regional framework, it establishes how we can make a difference in the long term to bring about sustainable change. I’m looking forward to seeing the project develop and for further knowledge to emerge so that we can continue to improve pathways out of poverty and inequality.

Focus areas include: supporting lone parent and low-income households affected by worklessness; helping adults to provide a better environment for their young people; and ensuring families can benefit from job opportunities created through the City Region Deal.

Families will receive support for core issues that affect everyone in the household to create stability and increase independence. They will receive help to engage in employment or employability-related activities, and receive advice on welfare and income maximisation.

Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity, Michael Matheson said:

City Region and Growth Deals will be a crucial part of our economic recovery from coronavirus (COVID-19) as we work towards a fairer and more inclusive Scotland. We are investing £300 million over 15 years to the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal across transport, housing, culture, innovation and skills to help achieve this.

The Intensive Family Support Service will demonstrate that we can achieve more by working together in partnership and in turn, be able to provide support and opportunities for those that need it most in these challenging times.

Sarah Galey-Horn, University of Edinburgh, is helping the service look at how organisational and social interactions promote economic mobility in low-income families. Sarah commented:

I see family support programmes like IFSS as part of a broader trend towards community-based social policy that puts human relationships, rather than individual outcomes, at the centre of social services. The research project uses a method called social network analysis (SNA) that focuses on analysing and building relationships that reduce poverty-related vulnerabilities. This approach will help us identify practices that facilitate trusting, supportive relationships with families and to share those practices across the six local delivery partners.

Borders College Shortlisted for leading the way in Data Science learning

An innovative partnership programme funded through the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal is benefitting students across the region, by allowing not only full-time students to learn about Data Driven Innovation (DDI) but also those who are unemployed or facing redundancy. 

The programme at Borders College has been shortlisted for a national award at the annual CDN (College Development Network) Awards – one of the most prestigious awards in the sector. Core Skills staff at Borders College developed a project-based approach to their course delivery and assessment. This approach has enabled the lecturers to develop the digital, data and meta-skills of the learners that relate more specifically to the needs of the employers. The shortlisting recognises a college that has anticipated the importance of wider skills development and reflected this across the curriculum. The winners will be announced at a virtual celebration on Thursday 3 December 2020.  

Borders College Principal Angela Cox said: 

“I am delighted that the creativity and hard work of the staff is being recognised in this way. Borders College prides itself on providing our community with the skills they need now and in the future. Accessing and interpreting data is an essential skill irrespective of the sector you want to work in and we are delighted to be working with University of Edinburgh on developing these skills, alongside other City Region Deal partners.”  

Alison Muckersie from University of Edinburgh, the Data-Driven Innovation Skills Gateway lead, commented: 

“The team at the Borders College has embraced the opportunity provided by the significant City Region Deal investment to prepare their students for the fast-changing world of work. Data skills are becoming increasingly important across all jobs and sectors, and are key to ensuring ongoing competitiveness for businesses. By embedding data literacy in their core skills programme the College is recognising this trend and is helping their students to be better equipped for the world of work, regardless of the roles they move into.” 

The programme consists of a pilot group of unemployed individuals that are developing data literacy skills online and meet up with their tutor on a weekly basis for support and advice. This pilot group is learning about Data Citizenship, Data Science, Information Technology Skills and Communication. The group will complete their course in December, with the hope that they will have the skills to gain employment in an increasingly competitive and changing jobs market.  

The digital technology and data revolution has put data at the core of many things, from personal privacy to public health, wealth creation to environmental protection. This is particularly important for employers, whether large or small businesses, public sector organisations or charities, because using data to create or improve products and services is key to unlocking economic growth and job creation. 

By moving to more digital solutions and using data to update business models, organisations can develop and take advantage of new and innovative ways of operating. To do this successfully, businesses need to have a workforce that is fit for purpose. 

Rapidly evolving technologies like artificial intelligence and robotics are increasing the demand for highly-skilled workers, but every type of work is affected. It is estimated that 90% of jobs already require digital skills. And while some jobs will disappear altogether as automation spreads, new jobs and whole new areas of work will emerge. 

The college has recognised the importance of developing these skills and has embedded the programme into their core curriculum. It is currently being taught online to over 170 full time students across a range of subjects (Construction, Business, Hospitality, Hairdressing, Beauty Therapy, Sport and Horse care).