The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
A new web portal is to be launched to help businesses in Greater Lincolnshire use digital technology to grow.
The Growing through Technology in Lincolnshire online project will provide factsheets, how-to guides and videos to encourage firms to get online and grow their business through digital technology. E-learning courses will also be available through the new service.
Funding totalling £176,000 has been secured for the project from the Greater Lincolnshire LEP’s Digital Capability Challenge Fund, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Lincolnshire County Council.
The online portal is expected to go live in January 2015 and will be part of the existing BusinessLincolnshire.com website. Businesses taking part can ask for extra help or attend events which will demonstrate the tools and support available.
“In the 21st century it’s not only desirable for businesses to have the ability to trade online – it’s crucial,” said Coun Colin Davie, executive member for economic development at Lincolnshire County Council.
“Effective use of the internet is fundamental to many aspects of modern business, from communicating with customers and exchanging digital files to actual transactions online.
“Our current business support initiatives demonstrate clearly that there are significant gaps in digital skills, knowledge and experience across the county. This project will equip businesses with those skills and in doing so open up a range of new opportunities for growth.”
He added: “Lincolnshire is a very large rural county with approximately 40,000 businesses, 95 per cent of which are SMEs. Businesses in the more remote rural areas are hard to reach both physically and virtually, so it’s absolutely vital for us to encourage effective use of the internet.
“Growing through technology will enable novice users and recent adopters of the internet and technology to get some basic information without having to book onto a workshop or a full support programme. They can learn remotely at a time of their choosing – a crucial benefit in a very rural economy – and their learning can be in private.
“The online information will help to build confidence and signpost businesses to a more in-depth digital support programme.”
