A New Governance Model for Delivering Digital Policy Agendas

TheUKhas,incommonwithmanydevelopedcountries,agrowingelderlypopulation,andwithin this demographic, digital exclusion is now seen as social care issue. This has become a policy challengeforlocalgovernmentthathasanequivocaltrackrecord,frome-governmenttosmartcities, ofimplementingdigitalpolicyagendas.Thisfailurehasbeenattributedtoapolicyimplementation approachrootedinamodelofgovernancethatisnolongerfitforpurpose.Thishasbeenacknowledged by some local policymakers who are now experimenting with new, more cost-effective ways of addressingthischallenge.Thisarticleexamineshowonelocalauthoritydevelopedaprojecttoco-createdigitalapplicationsforelderlypeople.Itpresentsacasestudyofanew,morecollaborative, andinnovativeapproachwithurbanactorswhohavenottraditionallybeeninvolvedindelivering thispolicyagenda