Local Government: Supporting Business Communities Online

• Online social networks and communities are highly prevalent in our society
• The Digital Britain report has further reinforced how essential the internet and online technology is to the British economy.
• The Transformational Government agenda and drive for greater efficiency are a priority for Local Government. 

So what does all this mean for Local Authorities tasked with supporting local businesses and economy?

This short seminar will demonstrate how Local Authorities can harness the power of online communities to provide targeted business support and speak directly to their local business communities in an efficient and cost effective manner.

The seminar will feature speakers including:

	Doug Richard - Entrepreneur and founder of School for Start-ups. Chairman of the Conservative Party Small Business Task Force.
	Councillor Brian Connell -  Cabinet Member for Communities and Economic Development at the City of Westminster. His Economic Development brief covers the 33,000 businesses which are based in Westminster.
	Dominic Campbell - Founder of FutureGov,  consultancy and social innovation incubator specialising in the use of web technologies to address Government policy development, communications and engagement.
	Alex Till - Operations Manager, Suffolk County Council
	Jennifer House - Economic Development Officer, Rochford District Council
	Arthur Meadows                             - Product Manager, VentureNavigator

·         How to implement online communities and use online tools and social networking to speak directly to businesses in your authority

·         How these methodologies can dramatically reduce the cost and effort of embedding your Authorities support services within the local business community

·         How your Authority can have the “right to reply” on issues that really matter to local businesses

·         How you can collect critical but hard to capture statistics on early stage business creation and business growth to help with targeting resources and building funding cases

You will also discover how:

·         Local Authorities are already benefiting from these techniques

·         You can make a convincing case internally to implement what you have learnt

Who should attend this event?

Anyone with a responsibility for business support and economic development within Local Authorities including:

·         Economic Development Officers

·         Directors / Heads of Economic Development or Regeneration